How big it really is
123,686 km²True area · 47,755 square miles
100 / 242By area
1.08×As Mercator draws it
246 timesFits into Africa
6,081,196People
49.2People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Eritrea 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 1.08× 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:
- Bangladesh135,652 km²
- Greece130,166 km²
- Nicaragua129,243 km²
- Eritrea123,686 km²
- North Korea122,496 km²
- Malawi119,796 km²
- Benin116,583 km²