How big it really is
594,607 km²True area · 229,579 square miles
47 / 242By area
1.12×As Mercator draws it
51 timesFits into Africa
26,969,307People
45.4People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Madagascar is at about 19° 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 1.12× 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:
- South Sudan623,981 km²
- Central African Republic620,992 km²
- Kenya594,843 km²
- Madagascar594,607 km²
- Morocco582,430 km²
- Botswana580,630 km²
- Ukraine570,161 km²