How big it really is
132 km²True area · 51 square miles
221 / 242By area
1.02×As Mercator draws it
230,076 timesFits into Africa
3,000People
22.7People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of British Indian Ocean Territory is at about 7° S. 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 1.02× 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:
- Indian Ocean Territories144 km²
- Liechtenstein138 km²
- British Virgin Is.135 km²
- British Indian Ocean Territory132 km²
- Wallis and Futuna132 km²
- Jersey126 km²
- American Samoa120 km²