Country size comparison
compared to
South Africa is about 8 times bigger than Illinois.
Illinois is approximately 143,961 sq km, while South Africa is approximately 1,219,090 sq km, making South Africa 747% larger than Illinois. Meanwhile, the population of Illinois is ~12.8 million people (44.7 million more people live in South Africa).
Tip:
This to-scale comparison of
Illinois
vs.
South Africa
uses the Mercator projection, which distorts the size of regions near the poles.
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Compare further: South Africa vs. Illinois
Flip Comparison · See true size
See South Africa on top of Illinois
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics
Make 4.9 times more money in Illinois
→
Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Illinois is 2.7 times more expensive than South Africa overall
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Moving from South Africa to Illinois · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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