How big it really is
3,585 km²True area · 1,384 square miles
177 / 242By area
1.07×As Mercator draws it
8,471 timesFits into Africa
549,935People
153People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Cabo Verde is at about 15° 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 1.07× 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:
- Brunei5,672 km²
- Trinidad and Tobago5,102 km²
- South Georgia3,669 km²
- Cabo Verde3,585 km²
- Northern Cyprus3,471 km²
- Samoa2,702 km²
- French Polynesia2,615 km²