How big it really is
642,052 km²True area · 247,897 square miles
42 / 242By area
1.45×As Mercator draws it
47 timesFits into Africa
38,041,754People
59.3People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Afghanistan is at about 34° N. Mercator stretches each place by the same amount across and up, more the further it is from the equator, so here every area comes out 1.45× its true size.
At the equator nothing is stretched. At 60° north or south, everything is drawn at four times its true area. The poles never fit on the map at all.
Countries about this size
The countries just bigger and just smaller, each at its true area:
- Zambia755,605 km²
- Chile737,458 km²
- Myanmar662,773 km²
- Afghanistan642,052 km²
- France635,054 km²
- South Sudan623,981 km²
- Central African Republic620,992 km²