How big it really is
33,117 km²True area · 12,787 square miles
139 / 242By area
2.17×As Mercator draws it
917 timesFits into Africa
2,657,637People
80.2People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Moldova is at about 47° 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 2.17× 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:
- Bhutan39,877 km²
- Netherlands37,134 km²
- Taiwan35,999 km²
- Moldova33,117 km²
- Guinea-Bissau32,056 km²
- Belgium30,632 km²
- Lesotho30,028 km²