Cape Town
2,455 km²
San Francisco
121 km²
South Africa
USA
Area Comparison
Cape Town is 20.3x larger than San Francisco
Population Comparison
Cape Town has 4.3x more people than San Francisco
Cape Town is significantly larger, covering 20.3 times the area of San Francisco. Cape Town spans 2,455 km² (948 mi²) while San Francisco covers 121 km² (47 mi²) — a difference of 2,334 km². You could fit San Francisco inside Cape Town approximately 20 times.
To put Cape Town's size in perspective, its area of 2,455 km² is roughly the same size as Moscow. Meanwhile, San Francisco at 121 km² is about 1.2x the size of Paris (city proper).
Cape Town's footprint is roughly about 344,000 American football fields, 42 times the area of Manhattan, or 23 times the area of Paris — pick whichever unit feels intuitive. San Francisco, by comparison, equals about 17,000 American football fields, 60 times the area of Monaco, or 35 times the area of Central Park.
Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
Known as "The Mother City", Cape Town covers 2,455 km² with a population of 3.8 million. The city was established in 1652. Cape Town is known for Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, Robben Island, among other attractions.
Cape Town is South Africa's oldest city, founded in 1652 and home to the seat of the national Parliament.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 300,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023.
Nicknamed "The City by the Bay", San Francisco has an area of 121 km² and is home to 0.9 million people. It was established in 1776. Visitors come for Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Cable cars, and much more. Getting around is easy with the BART & Muni.
San Francisco ranks first by per capita income among all US cities with 300,000+ residents as of 2023.
Cape Town has a population density of 1,540 people per km² — a relatively spread-out city. San Francisco, with 7,190 people per km², is a densely populated city. San Francisco is dramatically more crowded, with 4.7x the population density.
Size Ratio
San Francisco fits inside Cape Town ~20 times
Density Gap
San Francisco is 4.7x more densely populated
History
Cape Town is ~124 years older
Cape Town covers 2,455 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Moscow (2,511 km²), Lima (2,672 km²), Tokyo (2,194 km²), Ho Chi Minh City (2,061 km²), or Shenzhen (1,997 km²).
San Francisco covers 121 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Vancouver (115 km²), Paris (105 km²), Miami (143 km²), Barcelona (101 km²), or Lisbon (100 km²).
The straight-line distance from Cape Town to San Francisco is 16,486 km (10,244 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~19h 54m.
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