Country size comparison
compared to
South Africa is about 3 times bigger than California.
California is approximately 403,882 sq km, while South Africa is approximately 1,219,090 sq km, making South Africa 202% larger than California. Meanwhile, the population of California is ~39.4 million people (25.4 million more people live in South Africa).
Tip:
This to-scale comparison of
California
vs.
South Africa
uses the Mercator projection, which distorts the size of regions near the poles.
Try dragging the outline to reposition.
Compare further: South Africa vs. California
Flip Comparison · See true size
See South Africa on top of California
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 5 statistics
Make 12.7 times more money in California
→
Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
California is 2.6 times more expensive than South Africa overall
→
Moving from South Africa to California · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of Cape Town vs Sacramento
→
Our free app, MapSize by MyLifeElsewhere — compare any two places, to scale on your mobile device.