Tonga vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 355 times larger than Tonga. Tonga would fit into Western Sahara about 355 times.
TongaWestern SaharaTonga moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.0×
Tonga is 0.0× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 355× the size of Tonga.
| Tonga | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 749 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 103,742 | 612,000 |
| Density | 139 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Nuku'alofa | — |
| Region | Polynesia | 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. Tonga sits at about 20°S and is stretched to 1.14× 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 Tonga bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Tonga is 355 times smaller than Western Sahara. Tonga covers 749 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Tonga fit into Western Sahara?
- About 355 times: Western Sahara has 355× the area of Tonga.
- Why do Tonga and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Tonga is drawn about 1.14× 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, Tonga or Western Sahara?
- Western Sahara: 612,000 people against 103,742. Density: Tonga 139 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².