How big it really is
384,253 km²True area · 148,361 square miles
63 / 242By area
5.13×As Mercator draws it
79 timesFits into Africa
5,347,896People
13.9People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Norway is at about 64° 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 5.13× 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: