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Africa · 25th largest of 242

South Africa at its true size

It sits near the equator, so Mercator barely stretches it: 1.31×.

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True sizeAs Mercator draws it

How big it really is

1,221,697 km²True area · 471,700 square miles
25 / 242By area
1.31×As Mercator draws it
25 timesFits into Africa
58,558,270People
47.9People per km²

How Mercator draws it

The middle of South Africa is at about 29° S. 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 1.31× 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.

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