How big it really is
145,576 km²True area · 56,207 square miles
95 / 242By area
1.01×As Mercator draws it
209 timesFits into Africa
581,363People
4.0People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Suriname is at about 4° 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 1.01× 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:
- Somaliland168,495 km²
- Tunisia156,660 km²
- Nepal147,196 km²
- Suriname145,576 km²
- Tajikistan142,295 km²
- Bangladesh135,652 km²
- Greece130,166 km²