How big it really is
142,295 km²True area · 54,940 square miles
96 / 242By area
1.63×As Mercator draws it
213 timesFits into Africa
9,321,018People
65.5People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Tajikistan is at about 39° 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 1.63× 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: