Angola is 1.02× the size of South Africa

Angola covers about 1,245,000 km² (481,000 mi²) and South Africa about 1,220,000 km² (471,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

1,245,000km²Angola
1,220,000km²South Africa

500 km

Angola
South Africa

What fits

South Africa is 98% of the size of Angola.
Angola is larger by 25,100 km² (9,710 mi²), which is 2.1% of the area of South Africa.
Measured in Belgiums: Angola is about 40.6, South Africa about 39.8.

How they differ

Angola is larger, but South Africa has the larger population: 62.0 million against 36.7 million, 1.69× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 51 in South Africa against 30 in Angola: South Africa is 1.72× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 2,020 km apart.
On a standard web map South Africa looks larger than Angola: Angola at 12°S is drawn about 1.0× too large and South Africa at 29°S about 1.3×, so the map shows South Africa as 1.22× the size of Angola, when Angola is 1.02× the size of South Africa.
Together Angola and South Africa cover 2,464,000 km², close to the size of Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,325,000 km², 5.6% smaller).
The gap between them, 25,100 km², is about the size of Rwanda (25,300 km²).
At South Africa's density, Angola would have 63.3 million people (it has 36.7 million). At Angola's density, South Africa would have 36.0 million (it has 62.0 million).
Angola's centre is 16.7° of latitude, about 1,860 km, farther north than South Africa's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Angola	1.02×
More people	South Africa	1.69×
More crowded	South Africa	1.72×
Farther north	Angola	16.7° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	South Africa	1.3× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Angola	South Africa
Belgium 30,700 km²	40.6×	39.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.11×	5.00×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.48×	3.41×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.33×	3.27×
France 548,000 km²	2.27×	2.23×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.40×	0.39×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.15×	0.14×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.13×	0.13×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.07×	0.07×

Each figure is the place's area divided by the yardstick's.

Side by side

	Angola	South Africa
Area, main territory	1,245,000 km²481,000 mi²	1,220,000 km²471,000 mi²
Population	36.7 millionWikidata, 2023	62.0 millionWikidata, 2022
Density	30 per km²	51 per km²
Official area	1,247,000 km²Wikidata	1,221,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Luanda	Pretoria; Cape Town; Bloemfontein
Latitude range	18°S to 4°S	35°S to 22°S
Continent	Africa	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2023 and Wikidata 2022, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 1,247,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,245,000 km², to within 2%.
Wikidata's official figure of 1,221,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,220,000 km², to within 2%.

Similar in size to Angola

Similar in size to South Africa

More comparisons

Sources and method

Outlines: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth. Main territory: the largest landmass and every part within 1,000 km of it.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outlines, shown rounded. Comparisons use main-territory area.
Drawing: Each outline is projected with an equal-area projection centred on its own centroid, so areas stay true and the two can be laid over each other.
Data built: 2026-11-11

Full method