Western Sahara vs Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is 47% larger than Western Sahara.
Western SaharaZimbabweWestern Sahara moved onto Zimbabwe · Equal-area projection
0.68×
Western Sahara is 0.68× the area of Zimbabwe. Put the other way, Zimbabwe is 1.47× the size of Western Sahara.
| Western Sahara | Zimbabwe | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 266,000 km² | 390,757 km² |
| Population | 612,000 | 16,950,795 |
| Density | 2.3 / km² | 43 / km² |
| Capital | — | Harare |
| Region | Northern Africa | Eastern Africa |
| Coastline | Has a coast | Landlocked |
| Neighbours | 3 | 4 |
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; Zimbabwe at 19° S is stretched to 1.12×. 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 Zimbabwe?
- No. Western Sahara is 32% smaller than Zimbabwe. Western Sahara covers 266,000 km² and Zimbabwe covers 390,757 km².
- How many times does Western Sahara fit into Zimbabwe?
- About 1.5 times: Zimbabwe has 1.47× the area of Western Sahara.
- Why do Western Sahara and Zimbabwe 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 Zimbabwe about 1.12×. 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 Zimbabwe?
- Zimbabwe: 16,950,795 people against 612,000. Density: Western Sahara 2.3 per km², Zimbabwe 43 per km².