How big it really is
2,615 km²True area · 1,010 square miles
180 / 242By area
1.10×As Mercator draws it
11,614 timesFits into Africa
279,287People
107People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of French Polynesia is at about 18° 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 1.10× 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:
- Cabo Verde3,585 km²
- Northern Cyprus3,471 km²
- Samoa2,702 km²
- French Polynesia2,615 km²
- Luxembourg2,612 km²
- Siachen Glacier2,118 km²
- Mauritius1,879 km²