How big it really is
6,972 km²True area · 2,692 square miles
171 / 242By area
2.35×As Mercator draws it
4,356 timesFits into Africa
140People
0.02People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of French Southern Lands is at about 49° 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 2.35× 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: