Rwanda vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 10.1 times larger than Rwanda. Rwanda would fit into Western Sahara about 10 times.
RwandaWestern SaharaRwanda moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.1×
Rwanda is 0.1× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 10.1× the size of Rwanda.
| Rwanda | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 26,338 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 14,569,341 | 612,000 |
| Density | 553 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Kigali | — |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Landlocked | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 4 | 3 |
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; Western Sahara at 24° N is stretched to 1.2×. 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 Western Sahara?
- No. Rwanda is 10.1 times smaller than Western Sahara. Rwanda covers 26,338 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Rwanda fit into Western Sahara?
- About 10 times: Western Sahara has 10.1× the area of Rwanda.
- Why do Rwanda and Western Sahara 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 Western Sahara about 1.2×. 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 Western Sahara?
- Rwanda: 14,569,341 people against 612,000. Density: Rwanda 553 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².