How big it really is
244,929 km²True area · 94,568 square miles
79 / 242By area
1.03×As Mercator draws it
124 timesFits into Africa
12,771,246People
52.1People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Guinea is at about 10° 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 1.03× 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:
- New Zealand266,865 km²
- Gabon260,666 km²
- Ecuador255,671 km²
- Guinea244,929 km²
- Uganda242,558 km²
- United Kingdom239,616 km²
- Ghana239,569 km²