Western Sahara vs Zambia
Zambia is 2.83 times larger than Western Sahara. Western Sahara would fit into Zambia about 2.8 times.
Western SaharaZambiaWestern Sahara moved onto Zambia · Equal-area projection
0.35×
Western Sahara is 0.35× the area of Zambia. Put the other way, Zambia is 2.83× the size of Western Sahara.
| Western Sahara | Zambia | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 266,000 km² | 752,618 km² |
| Population | 612,000 | 21,913,874 |
| Density | 2.3 / km² | 29 / km² |
| Capital | — | Lusaka |
| Region | Northern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 3 | 7 |
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Western Sahara sits at about 24°N and is stretched to 1.2× its true area; Zambia at 13° S is stretched to 1.06×. 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 Western Sahara bigger than Zambia?
- No. Western Sahara is 2.83 times smaller than Zambia. Western Sahara covers 266,000 km² and Zambia covers 752,618 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Zambia?
- About 2.8 times: Zambia has 2.83× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Western Sahara and Zambia look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Western Sahara is drawn about 1.2× its true area there and Zambia about 1.06×. 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, Western Sahara or Zambia?
- Zambia: 21,913,874 people against 612,000. Density: Western Sahara 2.3 per km², Zambia 29 per km².