True Size of Countries — Compare on a Map

Because the map uses the Mercator projection, which stretches areas more and more toward the poles: by the square of the secant of the latitude. Greenland lies between 60° and 83° north, where the stretch is 4 to 70 times, so it is drawn about the size of Africa. In reality Africa is about 14 times larger — drag Greenland to the equator and it shrinks to its true size.

The country itself does not change; the map does. The tool keeps the true outline and area of the country and only redraws it where you move it, so north of its home it swells and toward the equator it shrinks. Its outline also bends a little, because a real curved Earth is being flattened. Straight borders such as the 49th parallel bend into arcs for the same reason.

The Mercator map cannot show the poles at all — at 90° its stretch would be infinite, so web maps are cut off near 85°. A shape stops before it reaches that edge instead of blowing up to cover the whole world. To compare polar lands honestly, look at the equal-area view beside the map.

Each area is computed on the WGS84 ellipsoid from Natural Earth’s detailed 1:10m outlines. For most countries it is within 1 % of official figures; the difference is larger where official statistics include inland waters or disputed land, which is why the numbers are shown as approximate. France is shown without its overseas departments.

Yes. Search finds the states, provinces and regions of any country, and after adding a country the “Regions” button lists all of its regions by size. You can also draw your own shape — a field, a lake, a city — and drag it anywhere.

Start the “Which is bigger?” quiz: it picks pairs of countries where the map misleads, and after each answer it moves both to the equator side by side. You can also prepare a comparison, press “Link” and send it to the class — the link opens exactly your arrangement — or download a picture for a slide.