Mali is 1.03× the size of South Africa

Mali covers about 1,253,000 km² (484,000 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.

1,253,000km²Mali
1,220,000km²South Africa

500 km

Mali
South Africa

What fits

South Africa is 97% of the size of Mali.
Mali is larger by 33,200 km² (12,800 mi²), which is 2.7% of the area of South Africa.
Measured in Belgiums: Mali is about 40.8, South Africa about 39.8.

How they differ

Mali is larger, but South Africa has the larger population: 62.0 million against 22.4 million, 2.77× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 51 in South Africa against 18 in Mali: South Africa is 2.84× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 6,000 km apart.
On a standard web map South Africa looks larger than Mali: Mali at 17°N is drawn about 1.1× too large and South Africa at 29°S about 1.3×, so the map shows South Africa as 1.16× the size of Mali, when Mali is 1.03× the size of South Africa.
Together Mali and South Africa cover 2,472,000 km², close to the size of Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,325,000 km², 5.9% smaller).
The gap between them, 33,200 km², is about the size of Moldova (33,200 km²).
At South Africa's density, Mali would have 63.7 million people (it has 22.4 million). At Mali's density, South Africa would have 21.8 million (it has 62.0 million).
Mali's centre is 46.3° of latitude, about 5,150 km, farther north than South Africa's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Mali	1.03×
More people	South Africa	2.77×
More crowded	South Africa	2.84×
Farther north	Mali	46.3° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	South Africa	1.3× against 1.1×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Mali	South Africa
Belgium 30,700 km²	40.8×	39.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.14×	5.00×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.50×	3.41×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.35×	3.27×
France 548,000 km²	2.29×	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

	Mali	South Africa
Area, main territory	1,253,000 km²484,000 mi²	1,220,000 km²471,000 mi²
Population	22.4 millionWikidata, 2022	62.0 millionWikidata, 2022
Density	18 per km²	51 per km²
Official area	1,240,000 km²Wikidata	1,221,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Bamako	Pretoria; Cape Town; Bloemfontein
Latitude range	10°N to 25°N	35°S to 22°S
Continent	Africa	Africa

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

Wikidata's official figure of 1,240,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,253,000 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 Mali

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