South Africa vs Western Sahara
South Africa is 4.59 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into South Africa about 4.6 times.
South AfricaWestern SaharaSouth Africa moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
4.59×
South Africa is 4.59× the area of Western Sahara.
| South Africa | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,221,037 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 64,747,319 | 612,000 |
| Density | 53 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Pretoria | — |
| Region | Southern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 6 | 3 |
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; 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 South Africa bigger than Western Sahara?
- Yes. South Africa is 4.59 times larger than Western Sahara. South Africa covers 1,221,037 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into South Africa?
- About 4.6 times: South Africa has 4.59× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do South Africa and Western Sahara 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 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, South Africa or Western Sahara?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 612,000. Density: South Africa 53 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².