Sierra Leone vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 3.71 times larger than Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone would fit into Western Sahara about 3.7 times.
Sierra LeoneWestern SaharaSierra Leone moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.27×
Sierra Leone is 0.27× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 3.71× the size of Sierra Leone.
| Sierra Leone | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 71,740 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 8,819,794 | 612,000 |
| Density | 123 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Freetown | — |
| Region | Western Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Sierra Leone sits at about 9°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Sierra Leone bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Sierra Leone is 3.71 times smaller than Western Sahara. Sierra Leone covers 71,740 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Sierra Leone fit into Western Sahara?
- About 3.7 times: Western Sahara has 3.71× the area of Sierra Leone.
- Why do Sierra Leone and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Sierra Leone is drawn about 1.02× 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, Sierra Leone or Western Sahara?
- Sierra Leone: 8,819,794 people against 612,000. Density: Sierra Leone 123 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².