Tunisia vs Western Sahara
Western Sahara is 63% larger than Tunisia. Tunisia would fit into Western Sahara about 1.6 times.
TunisiaWestern SaharaTunisia moved onto Western Sahara · Equal-area projection
0.62×
Tunisia is 0.62× the area of Western Sahara. Put the other way, Western Sahara is 1.63× the size of Tunisia.
| Tunisia | Western Sahara | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 163,610 km² | 266,000 km² |
| Population | 12,348,573 | 612,000 |
| Density | 75 / km² | 2.3 / km² |
| Capital | Tunis | — |
| Region | Northern Africa | Northern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Has a coast |
| Neighbours | 2 | 3 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Tunisia sits at about 34°N and is stretched to 1.46× 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 Tunisia bigger than Western Sahara?
- No. Tunisia is 38% smaller than Western Sahara. Tunisia covers 163,610 km² and Western Sahara covers 266,000 km².
- How many times does Tunisia fit into Western Sahara?
- About 1.6 times: Western Sahara has 1.63× the area of Tunisia.
- Why do Tunisia and Western Sahara look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Tunisia is drawn about 1.46× 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, Tunisia or Western Sahara?
- Tunisia: 12,348,573 people against 612,000. Density: Tunisia 75 per km², Western Sahara 2.3 per km².