Samoa vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 93.6 times larger than Samoa. Samoa would fit into Western Sahara about 94 times.
SamoaWestern SaharaSamoa moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.01×
Samoa is 0.01× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 93.6× the size of Samoa.
| Samoa | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 2,842 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 219,306 | 612,000 |
| Density | 77 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Apia | — |
| Region | Polynesia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 3 |
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; 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 Samoa bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Samoa is 93.6 times smaller than Western Sahara. Samoa covers 2,842 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Samoa fit into Western Sahara?
- About 94 times: Western Sahara has 93.6× the area of Samoa.
- Why do Samoa and Western Sahara 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 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, Samoa or Western Sahara?
- Western Sahara: 612,000 people against 219,306. Density: Samoa 77 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².