South Africa vs Zimbabwe
South Africa is 3.12 times larger than Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe would fit into South Africa about 3.1 times.
South AfricaZimbabweSouth Africa moved onto Zimbabwe · Equal-area projection
3.12×
South Africa is 3.12× the area of Zimbabwe.
| South Africa | Zimbabwe | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 1,221,037 km² | 390,757 km² |
| Population | 64,747,319 | 16,950,795 |
| Density | 53 / km² | 43 / km² |
| Capital | Pretoria | Harare |
| Region | Southern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 6 | 4 |
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; Zimbabwe at 19° S is stretched to 1.12×. 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 Zimbabwe?
- Yes. South Africa is 3.12 times larger than Zimbabwe. South Africa covers 1,221,037 km² and Zimbabwe covers 390,757 km².
- How many times does Zimbabwe fit into South Africa?
- About 3.1 times: South Africa has 3.12× the area of Zimbabwe.
- Why do South Africa and Zimbabwe 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 Zimbabwe about 1.12×. 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 Zimbabwe?
- South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 16,950,795. Density: South Africa 53 per km², Zimbabwe 43 per km².