---
title: "Italy vs South Africa — area, population, currency"
description: "Italy is 301,340 km² with 58,915,656 people; South Africa is 1,219,090 km² with 64,747,319. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/italy-vs-south-africa/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Italy vs South Africa

**Italy vs South Africa: South Africa is larger; South Africa has more people**

301,340 km² vs 1,219,090 km² · 58,915,656 vs 64,747,319

South Africa is 4.0 times larger than Italy — 1,219,090 against 301,340 km². South Africa is slightly more populous, by 9.9% — 64,747,319 against 58,915,656 people.

## Side by side

|  | Italy | South Africa |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | Rome | Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial) |
| Area | 301,340 km² | 1,219,090 km² |
| Population | 58,915,656 (2025) | 64,747,319 (2025) |
| Density | 195.5 /km² | 53.1 /km² |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | South African rand (ZAR) |
| Official languages | Italian | Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu |
| Time zones | UTC+01:00 | UTC+02:00 |
| Calling code | +39 | +27 |
| Drives on the | right | left |
| Continent | Europe | Africa |
| ISO codes | IT / ITA | ZA / ZAF |

## Population density

Italy is 3.7 times more densely populated than South Africa — 196 against 53 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

## Practical differences

- They drive on opposite sides — Italy on the right, South Africa on the left.
- Different currencies: the Euro and the South African rand.
- Different continents — Europe and Africa.

## Italy

Italy has three of Europe's most active volcanoes — Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius — and Stromboli has been erupting more or less continuously for at least 2,000 years. It has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country. The Alps and Apennines mean about three-quarters of the land is mountain or hill.

## South Africa

One of only a handful of countries with more than one capital, and the only one with three. The Vredefort Dome south-west of Johannesburg is the largest verified impact crater on Earth, about 300 km across and 2 billion years old. The Cape Floral Region packs roughly 9,000 plant species into a small corner of the country, most of them found nowhere else.

> Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.

## Common questions

### Is Italy bigger than South Africa?

South Africa is larger — 1,219,090 km² against 301,340 km².

### Which has more people, Italy or South Africa?

South Africa, with 64,747,319 against 58,915,656.

### What is the time difference between Italy and South Africa?

Italy is UTC+01:00 and South Africa is UTC+02:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country/italy/)
- [South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country/south-africa/)
- [India vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-italy/)
- [India vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-south-africa/)
- [China vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-italy/)
- [China vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-south-africa/)
- [Japan vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/japan-vs-south-africa/)
- [Canada vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-italy/)
- [Canada vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-south-africa/)
- [Australia vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-italy/)
- [Australia vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-south-africa/)
- [New Zealand vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/new-zealand-vs-south-africa/)
- [France vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/france-vs-italy/)
- [France vs South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/france-vs-south-africa/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]