Actual Size of Countries 2022

Do you have any idea how large the United States is? And what about Russia? Also, how about Greenland?

The map you’re using is probably wrong, so even if you believe you know, you may not. The Mercator Projection, which most of us are used to seeing, is the name of the world map most of us have.

This groundbreaking map by Dutch geographer Gerardus Mercator appeared in 1569. But it also had to overcome the basic challenge faced by all maps: cartography is flat, but the Earth is round.

Because of this discrepancy in fundamental geometry, cartographers have developed several distinct map rendering approaches.

The issue is that none of them is flawless. In the Mercator projection, for instance, land masses close to the equator have the right form and size, but land masses start stretching and warping strangely when you go closer to the north or south pole.

The most blatant case in point is Greenland. According to the Mercator projection, its size is comparable to that of Africa. Africa is fourteen times bigger than Greenland.

To illustrate the discrepancy between the actual and projected sizes of countries, climate data scientists at the Met Office in the United Kingdom, Neil Kaye, made this animation.

Australia, the world’s sixth-largest nation by geographical area, maintains a generally constant size throughout the animation because of its temperate latitude.

When relocated closer to the equator, Russia, Canada, China, and the United States all decrease significantly. The animation aids in the learning of information like:

• Norway is twice as big as Chile.
• Five and a half times as much of Iceland may be placed in Madagascar.
• Thailand is twice as large as the UK.

Kaye also includes a diagram that superimposes Mercator’s projections of the countries’ sizes on top of the actual sizes of the countries. This map by Mercator shows that Antarctica is almost as large as the other continents combined.

Further, Canada and Russia take up just around 5% of Earth’s actual surface area while covering 25%.

Also See: 9 Letter Countries

This interactive map lets you search for a certain country, move it around, and see how its size compares to others worldwide. In the table below, you’ll find all the countries of the world ranked by their total land area.