The real size of countries, on an Equal Earth map
Most online maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches land more and more the further it is from the equator. This true size map uses the Equal Earth projection instead, so every country is shown at its real size relative to every other. Zoom in and it blends smoothly into a regular street map.
How to use it
- Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom. The bar in the corner shows which projection each zoom level uses.
- Click a country to see its area and how it compares with the USA and Greenland.
- Pick up & compare turns a country into an outline you can drag anywhere. It keeps its real size as it moves, so you can put Greenland next to Africa or Russia on the equator.
- Switch to Mercator with the outlines still in place to watch them inflate towards the poles.
- Share copies a link to exactly what you're looking at, including your comparisons.
Why does Mercator make Greenland look so big?
Gerardus Mercator designed his 1569 map for sailors. It keeps angles and local shapes correct, so a straight line on the map is a constant compass bearing. The price is scale: at 60° north or south, areas are drawn four times too large, and near the poles the stretching grows without limit.
That's why Greenland, about 2.2 million km², looks as big as Africa, which is about 30 million km², roughly 14 times larger. Web maps adopted a variant called Web Mercator because it tiles neatly into squares, which is how it became the picture of the world most people carry around.
What is the Equal Earth projection?
Equal Earth was published in 2018 by cartographers Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny. It is an equal-area projection: any two regions of the same size on the globe cover the same area on the map. Its rounded outline and straight lines of latitude keep continents looking familiar, unlike the tall, squashed shapes of the older Gall–Peters projection.
No flat map can keep both area and shape. Equal Earth gives up some shape near its edges, where countries lean and stretch sideways, to keep sizes honest everywhere.
The UN "Correct the Map" resolution
On 4 September 2026 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution encouraging equal-area projections such as Equal Earth when comparing the sizes of continents, by 164 votes to 1 with 6 abstentions. The effort was led by Togo and the African Union, which adopted Equal Earth earlier in the year. The resolution is non-binding and doesn't challenge Mercator for navigation, where preserving angles matters.
From world map to street map
Projections matter at world and continent scale. Once you zoom in to a single country, the differences between them become too small to see, and Mercator's correct angles are what you want for streets. So this map starts in Equal Earth, gradually morphs into Web Mercator between zoom levels 3 and 4.5, and then fades into an OpenStreetMap street map.
Frequently asked questions
How much bigger is Africa than Greenland?
About 14 times. Africa covers roughly 30.4 million km² and Greenland about 2.2 million km². On a Mercator map they look similar because Greenland sits so far north.
Is Greenland bigger than Australia?
No. Australia is about 7.7 million km², roughly three and a half times the size of Greenland, even though Greenland often looks larger on world maps.
Is Russia bigger than Africa?
No. Russia is the largest country at about 17.1 million km², but Africa is about 1.8 times bigger. Mercator makes Russia look larger because most of it lies at high latitudes.
Which world map shows the true size of countries?
Any equal-area projection, such as Equal Earth, Mollweide or Gall–Peters. They differ in how they distort shape. A globe is the only way to show both true sizes and true shapes at once.
Does Google Maps show countries at their true size?
Not when zoomed out on a flat map. Google Maps uses Web Mercator, so high-latitude countries appear inflated. Its desktop globe view avoids this, but only shows half the world at a time.
How accurate are the areas on this map?
They are calculated on a sphere from Natural Earth country boundaries, so they're close to official figures but not identical. Official areas also differ in whether they include inland water and disputed territory.
Country boundaries from Natural Earth. Street map by OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Place search by Nominatim.