How big it really is
2,118 km²True area · 818 square miles
182 / 242By area
1.50×As Mercator draws it
14,339 timesFits into Africa
6,000People
2.8People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Siachen Glacier is at about 35° 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 1.50× 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:
- Samoa2,702 km²
- French Polynesia2,615 km²
- Luxembourg2,612 km²
- Siachen Glacier2,118 km²
- Mauritius1,879 km²
- Comoros1,586 km²
- Faroe Islands1,035 km²