How big it really is
42,418 km²True area · 16,378 square miles
134 / 242By area
3.24×As Mercator draws it
716 timesFits into Africa
5,818,553People
137People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Denmark is at about 56° 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 3.24× 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:
- Dominican Republic48,590 km²
- Slovakia48,339 km²
- Estonia45,456 km²
- Denmark42,418 km²
- Switzerland41,208 km²
- Bhutan39,877 km²
- Netherlands37,134 km²