How big it really is
260,666 km²True area · 100,644 square miles
77 / 242By area
1.00×As Mercator draws it
117 timesFits into Africa
2,172,579People
8.3People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Gabon is at about 1° 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 1.00× 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:
- Philippines290,309 km²
- Burkina Faso273,688 km²
- New Zealand266,865 km²
- Gabon260,666 km²
- Ecuador255,671 km²
- Guinea244,929 km²
- Uganda242,558 km²