Samoa vs South Africa
South Africa is 430 times larger than Samoa. Samoa would fit into South Africa about 430 times.
SamoaSouth AfricaSamoa moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Samoa is 0.0× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 430× the size of Samoa.
| Samoa | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 2,842 km² | 1,221,037 km² |
| Population | 219,306 | 64,747,319 |
| Density | 77 / km² | 53 / km² |
| Capital | Apia | Pretoria |
| Region | Polynesia | Southern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Samoa sits at about 14°S and is stretched to 1.06× 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 Samoa bigger than South Africa?
- No. Samoa is 430 times smaller than South Africa. Samoa covers 2,842 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
- How many times does Samoa fit into South Africa?
- About 430 times: South Africa has 430× the area of Samoa.
- Why do Samoa and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Samoa is drawn about 1.06× 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, Samoa or South Africa?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 219,306. Density: Samoa 77 per km², South Africa 53 per km².