Peru is 1.06× the size of South Africa

Peru covers about 1,290,000 km² (498,000 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.

1,290,000km²Peru
1,220,000km²South Africa

500 km

Peru
South Africa

What fits

South Africa is 95% of the size of Peru.
Peru is larger by 70,400 km² (27,200 mi²), which is 5.8% of the area of South Africa.
Measured in Belgiums: Peru is about 42.1, South Africa about 39.8.

How they differ

Peru is larger, but South Africa has the larger population: 62.0 million against 34.2 million, 1.82× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 51 in South Africa against 26 in Peru: South Africa is 1.92× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 10,400 km apart.
On a standard web map South Africa looks larger than Peru: Peru at 9°S is drawn about 1.0× too large and South Africa at 29°S about 1.3×, so the map shows South Africa as 1.20× the size of Peru, when Peru is 1.06× the size of South Africa.
Together Peru and South Africa cover 2,509,000 km², close to the size of Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,325,000 km², 7.3% smaller).
The gap between them, 70,400 km², is about the size of United Arab Emirates (71,100 km²).
At South Africa's density, Peru would have 65.6 million people (it has 34.2 million). At Peru's density, South Africa would have 32.3 million (it has 62.0 million).
Peru's centre is 19.9° of latitude, about 2,210 km, farther north than South Africa's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	Peru	1.06×
More people	South Africa	1.82×
More crowded	South Africa	1.92×
Farther north	Peru	19.9° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	South Africa	1.3× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	Peru	South Africa
Belgium 30,700 km²	42.1×	39.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.29×	5.00×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.61×	3.41×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.45×	3.27×
France 548,000 km²	2.35×	2.23×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.41×	0.39×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.15×	0.14×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.14×	0.13×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.08×	0.07×

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

Side by side

	Peru	South Africa
Area, main territory	1,290,000 km²498,000 mi²	1,220,000 km²471,000 mi²
Population	34.2 millionWikidata, 2025	62.0 millionWikidata, 2022
Density	26 per km²	51 per km²
Official area	1,285,000 km²Wikidata	1,221,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Lima	Pretoria; Cape Town; Bloemfontein
Latitude range	18°S to 0°S	35°S to 22°S
Continent	South America	Africa

Population: Wikidata 2025 and Wikidata 2022, covering each whole country. Official figures: Wikidata (CC0).

Wikidata's official figure of 1,285,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,290,000 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 Peru

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