South Africa vs Zambia
South Africa is 62% larger than Zambia. Zambia would fit into South Africa about 1.6 times.
South AfricaZambiaSouth Africa moved onto Zambia · Equal-area projection
1.62×
South Africa is 1.62× the area of Zambia.
| South Africa | Zambia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,221,037 km² | 752,618 km² |
| Population | 64,747,319 | 21,913,874 |
| Density | 53 / km² | 29 / km² |
| Capital | Pretoria | Lusaka |
| Region | Southern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 6 | 7 |
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; Zambia at 13° S is stretched to 1.06×. 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 Zambia?
- Yes. South Africa is 62% larger than Zambia. South Africa covers 1,221,037 km² and Zambia covers 752,618 km².
- How many times does Zambia fit into South Africa?
- About 1.6 times: South Africa has 1.62× the area of Zambia.
- Why do South Africa and Zambia 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 Zambia about 1.06×. 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 Zambia?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 21,913,874. Density: South Africa 53 per km², Zambia 29 per km².