South Africa vs Sri Lanka
South Africa is 18.6 times larger than Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka would fit into South Africa about 19 times.
South AfricaSri LankaSouth Africa moved onto Sri Lanka · Equal-area projection
18.6×
South Africa is 18.6× the area of Sri Lanka.
| South Africa | Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,221,037 km² | 65,610 km² |
| Population | 64,747,319 | 21,756,000 |
| Density | 53 / km² | 332 / km² |
| Capital | Pretoria | Colombo |
| Region | Southern Africa | Southern Asia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 6 | 0 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. South Africa sits at about 29°S and is stretched to 1.31× its true area; Sri Lanka at 8° 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 South Africa bigger than Sri Lanka?
- Yes. South Africa is 18.6 times larger than Sri Lanka. South Africa covers 1,221,037 km² and Sri Lanka covers 65,610 km².
- How many times does Sri Lanka fit into South Africa?
- About 19 times: South Africa has 18.6× the area of Sri Lanka.
- Why do South Africa and Sri Lanka look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. South Africa is drawn about 1.31× its true area there and Sri Lanka 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, South Africa or Sri Lanka?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 21,756,000. Density: South Africa 53 per km², Sri Lanka 332 per km².