Johannesburg
1,644 km²
Sydney
12,368 km²
South Africa
Australia
Area Comparison
Johannesburg is 7.5x smaller than Sydney
Population Comparison
Johannesburg has 1.1x fewer people than Sydney
Sydney is significantly larger, covering 7.5 times the area of Johannesburg. Sydney spans 12,368 km² (4,775 mi²) while Johannesburg covers 1,644 km² (635 mi²) — a difference of 10,724 km². You could fit Johannesburg inside Sydney approximately 7 times.
To put Johannesburg's size in perspective, its area of 1,644 km² is roughly the same size as London. Meanwhile, Sydney at 12,368 km² is about 2.0x the size of Shanghai.
Johannesburg's footprint is roughly about 230,000 American football fields, 28 times the area of Manhattan, or 16 times the area of Paris — pick whichever unit feels intuitive. Sydney, by comparison, equals about 1,700,000 American football fields, 120 times the area of Paris, or 100 times the area of San Francisco.
Johannesburg, colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg or "The City of Gold", is the most populous city in South Africa. The City of Johannesburg itself has a population of 5,538,596, while the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality has a population of 6,599,190, making it one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, and seat of the country's highest court, the Constitutional Court.
Known as "Jozi", Johannesburg covers 1,644 km² with a population of 4.8 million. The city was established in 1886. Johannesburg is known for Apartheid Museum, Soweto township, Constitutional Court, among other attractions.
Johannesburg ranks among the world's 100 largest urban areas, with a metro population of about 6.6 million.
Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and is the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west, and about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Hawkesbury River in the north and north-west, to the Royal National Park and Macarthur in the south and south-west.
Also known as "Sydneysiders", Sydney has an area of 12,368 km² and is home to 5.3 million people. The city dates back to 1788. Visitors come for Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach, and much more. Getting around is easy with the Sydney Trains.
Sydney stretches roughly 80 km from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west.
Johannesburg has a population density of 2,920 people per km² — a moderately dense city. Sydney, with 429 people per km², is a low-density, sprawling urban area. Johannesburg is dramatically more crowded, with 6.8x the population density.
Size Ratio
Johannesburg fits inside Sydney ~7 times
Density Gap
Johannesburg is 6.8x more densely populated
Johannesburg covers 1,644 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Bogotá (1,578 km²), London (1,572 km²), Bangkok (1,569 km²), Houston (1,725 km²), or São Paulo (1,521 km²).
Sydney covers 12,368 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Chengdu (14,378 km²), Xi'an (10,097 km²), Melbourne (9,993 km²), Brisbane (15,826 km²), or Beijing (16,411 km²).
The straight-line distance from Johannesburg to Sydney is 11,041 km (6,860 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~13h 29m.
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