Somalia vs South Sudan
South Sudan and Somalia are almost exactly the same size.
SomaliaSouth SudanSomalia moved onto South Sudan · Equal-area projection
0.99×
Somalia is 0.99× the area of South Sudan. Put the other way, South Sudan is 1.01× the size of Somalia.
| Somalia | South Sudan | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 637,657 km² | 644,329 km² |
| Population | 19,654,739 | 12,188,788 |
| Density | 31 / km² | 19 / km² |
| Capital | Mogadishu | Juba |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 3 | 6 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Somalia sits at about 5°N and is stretched to 1.01× its true area; South Sudan at 7° N is stretched to 1.02×. 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 Somalia bigger than South Sudan?
- No. Somalia and South Sudan are almost exactly the same size. Somalia covers 637,657 km² and South Sudan covers 644,329 km².
- How many times does Somalia fit into South Sudan?
- About 1.0 times: South Sudan has 1.01× the area of Somalia.
- Why do Somalia and South Sudan look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Somalia is drawn about 1.01× its true area there and South Sudan about 1.02×. 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, Somalia or South Sudan?
- Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 12,188,788. Density: Somalia 31 per km², South Sudan 19 per km².