Syria vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 44% larger than Syria.
SyriaWestern SaharaSyria moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.7×
Syria is 0.7× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 1.44× the size of Syria.
| Syria | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 185,180 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 25,620,427 | 612,000 |
| Density | 138 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Damascus | — |
| Region | Western Asia | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 5 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Syria sits at about 35°N and is stretched to 1.49× 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 Syria bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Syria is 30% smaller than Western Sahara. Syria covers 185,180 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Syria fit into Western Sahara?
- About 1.4 times: Western Sahara has 1.44× the area of Syria.
- Why do Syria and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Syria is drawn about 1.49× 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, Syria or Western Sahara?
- Syria: 25,620,427 people against 612,000. Density: Syria 138 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².