How big it really is
11,292 km²True area · 4,360 square miles
164 / 242By area
1.07×As Mercator draws it
2,690 timesFits into Africa
299,882People
26.6People per km²
How Mercator draws it
The middle of Vanuatu is at about 15° 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 1.07× 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:
- Montenegro13,667 km²
- Bahamas12,668 km²
- Falkland Islands11,387 km²
- Vanuatu11,292 km²
- Qatar11,074 km²
- Jamaica10,933 km²
- Kosovo10,912 km²