How big it really is
144 km²True area · 56 square miles
218 / 242By area
1.03×As Mercator draws it
210,903 timesFits into Africa
2,387People
16.6People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Indian Ocean Territories is at about 10° 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 1.03× 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:
- Saint Helena186 km²
- Seychelles174 km²
- Aruba155 km²
- Indian Ocean Territories144 km²
- Liechtenstein138 km²
- British Virgin Is.135 km²
- British Indian Ocean Territory132 km²