Sri Lanka vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 4.05 times larger than Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka would fit into Western Sahara about 4.1 times.
Sri LankaWestern SaharaSri Lanka moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.25×
Sri Lanka is 0.25× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 4.05× the size of Sri Lanka.
| Sri Lanka | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 65,610 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 21,756,000 | 612,000 |
| Density | 332 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Colombo | — |
| Region | Southern Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 0 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Sri Lanka sits at about 8°N and is stretched to 1.02× 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 Sri Lanka bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Sri Lanka is 4.05 times smaller than Western Sahara. Sri Lanka covers 65,610 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Sri Lanka fit into Western Sahara?
- About 4.1 times: Western Sahara has 4.05× the area of Sri Lanka.
- Why do Sri Lanka and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Sri Lanka is drawn about 1.02× 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, Sri Lanka or Western Sahara?
- Sri Lanka: 21,756,000 people against 612,000. Density: Sri Lanka 332 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².