South Africa is 1.08× the size of Ethiopia

South Africa covers about 1,220,000 km² (471,000 mi²) and Ethiopia about 1,127,000 km² (435,000 mi²). Below, both outlines are drawn at one scale and centred on each other.

1,220,000km²South Africa
1,127,000km²Ethiopia

500 km

South Africa
Ethiopia

What fits

Ethiopia is 92% of the size of South Africa.
South Africa is larger by 92,100 km² (35,600 mi²), which is 8.2% of the area of Ethiopia.
Measured in Belgiums: South Africa is about 39.8, Ethiopia about 36.8.

How they differ

South Africa is larger, but Ethiopia has the larger population: 128.7 million against 62.0 million, 2.07× as many people.
Per square kilometre that is 114 in Ethiopia against 51 in South Africa: Ethiopia is 2.24× as densely populated.
Their centres are about 4,460 km apart.
A standard web map misstates the comparison: South Africa at 29°S is drawn about 1.3× too large and Ethiopia at 9°N about 1.0×, so the map shows South Africa as 1.38× the size of Ethiopia instead of 1.08×.
Together South Africa and Ethiopia cover 2,347,000 km², close to the size of Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,325,000 km², 0.9% smaller).
The gap between them, 92,100 km², is about the size of Portugal (91,400 km²).
At Ethiopia's density, South Africa would have 139.2 million people (it has 62.0 million). At South Africa's density, Ethiopia would have 57.3 million (it has 128.7 million).
Ethiopia's centre is 37.6° of latitude, about 4,180 km, farther north than South Africa's.

Who wins on what

Measure	Winner	By
Larger area	South Africa	1.08×
More people	Ethiopia	2.07×
More crowded	Ethiopia	2.24×
Farther north	Ethiopia	37.6° of latitude
Stretched more on a web map	South Africa	1.3× against 1.0×

Both against the same yardsticks

Yardstick	South Africa	Ethiopia
Belgium 30,700 km²	39.8×	36.8×
United Kingdom 244,000 km²	5.00×	4.62×
Germany 358,000 km²	3.41×	3.15×
Japan 374,000 km²	3.27×	3.02×
France 548,000 km²	2.23×	2.06×
India 3,151,000 km²	0.39×	0.36×
Brazil 8,473,000 km²	0.14×	0.13×
United States 9,447,000 km²	0.13×	0.12×
Russia 16,980,000 km²	0.07×	0.07×

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

Side by side

	South Africa	Ethiopia
Area, main territory	1,220,000 km²471,000 mi²	1,127,000 km²435,000 mi²
Population	62.0 millionWikidata, 2022	128.7 millionWikidata, 2023
Density	51 per km²	114 per km²
Official area	1,221,000 km²Wikidata	1,104,000 km²Wikidata
Capital	Pretoria; Cape Town; Bloemfontein	Addis Ababa
Latitude range	35°S to 22°S	3°N to 15°N
Continent	Africa	Africa

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

Wikidata's official figure of 1,221,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 1,220,000 km², to within 2%.
Our measured 1,127,000 km² is 2.1% above Wikidata's official figure of 1,104,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.

Similar in size to South Africa

Similar in size to Ethiopia

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