How big it really is
582,430 km²True area · 224,877 square miles
48 / 242By area
1.33×As Mercator draws it
52 timesFits into Africa
36,471,769People
62.6People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Morocco is at about 30° 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 1.33× 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:
- Central African Republic620,992 km²
- Kenya594,843 km²
- Madagascar594,607 km²
- Morocco582,430 km²
- Botswana580,630 km²
- Ukraine570,161 km²
- Thailand515,736 km²