France ↗
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Total surface area551,500 km²ed. 2024
Population68,720,3372025
Land area538,950 km²2023
TypeCountry
02Act II · 1:1 studioChange pair ↙
Which is bigger: France or Africa?
Africa is larger: 30,370,000 km² versus 551,500 km² for France, about 55 times the area.
Both areas at the same scale: France and Africa. Drag the outlines, separate them and see what the Mercator map hides.
True-size comparison
Same scale. Real difference.
Drag the outlines to overlap them, or place them side by side.
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Africa
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Total surface area30,370,000 km²
Population1,400,000,000
TypeContinent
03 · Verdict
What the map gets wrong
True area tells a different story than the Mercator map.
True area ratio55.1×Larger in reality: Africa.
How it looks on Mercator29.9×Looks larger on a Mercator map: Africa.
Why does this happen?
The Mercator projection enlarges areas more and more the farther they lie from the equator. The centers of the two areas lie about 43° (France) and 6° (Africa) from the equator. On a Mercator map their area ratio is 29.9 : 1, while in reality it is 55.1 : 1.
Tip: You can also compare these items dynamically by clicking the link below and dragging them directly across the global interactive map.
At least one value represents a continent and comes from an older editorial dataset. Treat the result as an approximation. Read the methodology ↗
Why do France and Africa look different on a Mercator map than in reality?
The Mercator projection preserves angles, which makes it useful for navigation, but it enlarges areas more and more the farther they lie from the equator. At 60° latitude, areas already appear four times larger than at the equator. A same-scale comparison like the one on this page greatly reduces that distortion.