Rwanda vs South Africa
South Africa is 46.4 times larger than Rwanda. Rwanda would fit into South Africa about 46 times.
RwandaSouth AfricaRwanda moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.02×
Rwanda is 0.02× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 46.4× the size of Rwanda.
| Rwanda | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 26,338 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 14,569,341 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 553 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Kigali | Pretoria |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 4 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Rwanda sits at about 2°S and is stretched to 1.0× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. Here the two are distorted about the same amount, so Mercator gets this pair roughly right. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Rwanda bigger than South Africa?
- No. Rwanda is 46.4 times smaller than South Africa. Rwanda covers 26,338 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Rwanda fit into South Africa?
- About 46 times: South Africa has 46.4× the area of Rwanda.
- Why do Rwanda and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Rwanda is drawn about 1.0× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. For this pair the distortion is similar, so Mercator gets the comparison roughly right. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Rwanda or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 14,569,341. Density: Rwanda 553 per km², South Africa 53 per km².