How big it really is
35,999 km²True area · 13,899 square miles
138 / 242By area
1.19×As Mercator draws it
844 timesFits into Africa
23,568,378People
655People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Taiwan is at about 24° 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 1.19× 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:
- Switzerland41,208 km²
- Bhutan39,877 km²
- Netherlands37,134 km²
- Taiwan35,999 km²
- Moldova33,117 km²
- Guinea-Bissau32,056 km²
- Belgium30,632 km²