Chad is 1.04× the size of South Africa

Chad covers about 1,266,000 km² (489,000 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.

1,266,000km²Chad
1,220,000km²South Africa

500 km

Chad
South Africa

What fits

South Africa is 96% of the size of Chad.
Chad is larger by 46,800 km² (18,100 mi²), which is 3.8% of the area of South Africa.
Measured in Belgiums: Chad is about 41.3, South Africa about 39.8.

How they differ

Chad is larger, but South Africa has the larger population: 62.0 million against 19.3 million, 3.21× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 51 in South Africa against 15 in Chad: South Africa is 3.33× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,970 km apart.
On a standard web map South Africa looks larger than Chad: Chad at 15°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and South Africa at 29°S about 1.3×, so the map shows South Africa as 1.17× the size of Chad, when Chad is 1.04× the size of South Africa.
Together Chad and South Africa cover 2,486,000 km², close to the size of Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,325,000 km², 6.5% smaller).
The gap between them, 46,800 km², is about the size of Estonia (45,800 km²).
At South Africa's density, Chad would have 64.4 million people (it has 19.3 million). At Chad's density, South Africa would have 18.6 million (it has 62.0 million).
Chad's centre is 44.2° of latitude, about 4,920 km, farther north than South Africa's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Chad	1.04×
More people	South Africa	3.21×
More crowded	South Africa	3.33×
Farther north	Chad	44.2° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	South Africa	1.3× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Chad	South Africa
Belgium 30,700 km²	41.3×	39.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.19×	5.00×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.54×	3.41×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.39×	3.27×
France 548,000 km²	2.31×	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

	Chad	South Africa
Area, main territory	1,266,000 km²489,000 mi²	1,220,000 km²471,000 mi²
Population	19.3 millionWikidata, 2023	62.0 millionWikidata, 2022
Density	15 per km²	51 per km²
Official area	1,284,000 km²Wikidata	1,221,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	N'Djamena	Pretoria; Cape Town; Bloemfontein
Latitude range	7°N to 23°N	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 1,284,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,266,000 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 Chad

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