Somalia vs Western Sahara
Somalia is 2.4 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Somalia about 2.4 times.
SomaliaWestern SaharaSomalia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
2.4×
Somalia is 2.4× the area of Western Sahara.
| Somalia | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 637,657 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 19,654,739 | 612,000 |
| Density | 31 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Mogadishu | — |
| Region | Eastern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 3 | 3 |
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; 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 Somalia bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. Somalia is 2.4 times larger than Western Sahara. Somalia covers 637,657 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Somalia?
- About 2.4 times: Somalia has 2.4× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Somalia and Western Sahara 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 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, Somalia or Western Sahara?
- Somalia: 19,654,739 people against 612,000. Density: Somalia 31 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².