How big it really is
274 km²True area · 106 square miles
210 / 242By area
1.52×As Mercator draws it
110,839 timesFits into Africa
502,653People
1,835People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Malta is at about 36° 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 1.52× 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:
- St Vincent and the Grenadines311 km²
- Cayman Islands301 km²
- Grenada286 km²
- Malta274 km²
- Marshall Islands237 km²
- St Kitts and Nevis233 km²
- St. Pierre and Miquelon205 km²