United States ↗
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Total surface area9,833,516.8 km²ed. 2024
Population341,784,8572025
Land area9,147,420 km²2023
TypeCountry
02Act II · 1:1 studioChange pair ↙
Which is bigger: United States or Africa?
Africa is larger: 30,370,000 km² versus 9,833,517 km² for the United States, about 3.1 times the area.
Both areas at the same scale: United States 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 ratio3.1×Larger in reality: Africa.
How it looks on Mercator1.6×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 45° (United States) and 6° (Africa) from the equator. On a Mercator map their area ratio is 1.6 : 1, while in reality it is 3.1 : 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 the United States 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.