How big it really is
147,196 km²True area · 56,833 square miles
94 / 242By area
1.29×As Mercator draws it
206 timesFits into Africa
28,608,710People
194People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Nepal is at about 28° 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 1.29× 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:
- Uruguay177,567 km²
- Somaliland168,495 km²
- Tunisia156,660 km²
- Nepal147,196 km²
- Suriname145,576 km²
- Tajikistan142,295 km²
- Bangladesh135,652 km²