How big it really is
198,653 km²True area · 76,700 square miles
87 / 242By area
1.78×As Mercator draws it
153 timesFits into Africa
6,456,900People
32.5People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Kyrgyzstan is at about 41° 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 1.78× 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: