South Africa vs Turkey
South Africa is 56% larger than Turkey. Turkey would fit into South Africa about 1.6 times.
South AfricaTurkeySouth Africa moved onto Turkey · Equal-area projection
1.56×
South Africa is 1.56× the area of Turkey.
| South Africa | Turkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,221,037 km² | 783,562 km² |
| Population | 64,747,319 | 85,878,556 |
| Density | 53 / km² | 110 / km² |
| Capital | Pretoria | Ankara |
| Region | Southern Africa | Western Asia |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 6 | 8 |
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; Turkey at 39° N is stretched to 1.66×. 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 Turkey?
- Yes. South Africa is 56% larger than Turkey. South Africa covers 1,221,037 km² and Turkey covers 783,562 km².
- How many times does Turkey fit into South Africa?
- About 1.6 times: South Africa has 1.56× the area of Turkey.
- Why do South Africa and Turkey 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 Turkey about 1.66×. 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 Turkey?
- Turkey: 85,878,556 people against 64,747,319. Density: South Africa 53 per km², Turkey 110 per km².