Best map projection for comparing country sizes
To compare country sizes, use an equal-area projection, ideally Equal Earth. On such a map every country covers an area proportional to its real size, so Greenland, Africa and your own country sit side by side at a fair scale.
Best choice: Equal Earth
Equal-area, pseudocylindrical
Comparing sizes needs an equal-area map, on which every country covers a share of the map proportional to its real area. Equal Earth keeps areas true and the continents look familiar, which is why the 2026 UN resolution encourages it wherever continent sizes are compared.
- Area: preserved
- Shape: distorted
- Distances: distorted
- Angles and directions: distorted
- Continuity: preserved
Also good
- MollweideEqual-area
Also equal-area: the whole world in an ellipse, with shapes squeezed harder near the edges.
Open in the map labProjection guide - Gall-PetersEqual-area
Equal-area in a rectangle, but countries near the equator look stretched vertically.
Open in the map labProjection guide
What to avoid
It inflates areas far from the equator: Greenland looks nearly as large as Africa, although Africa is about 14 times larger.
See the problem on the map →A different goal or map shape? Change the answers in the finder →
Why the map has to be equal-area
The eye compares countries by the space they take up on the map. If a projection enlarges some regions more than others, the comparison is lost before it starts. On a Mercator map the scale grows toward the poles, which is why Greenland looks nearly as large as Africa, although Africa is about 14 times larger.
An equal-area projection keeps area ratios across the whole map. It pays with shape: countries far from the centre of the map are squeezed or stretched, but their area stays true.
Why Equal Earth
Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny designed Equal Earth in 2018 as an equal-area world map inspired by the Robinson projection. The continents look familiar, and its straight parallels make latitude easy to read.
On 4 September 2026 the UN General Assembly adopted the non-binding “Correct the Map” resolution. It encourages Equal Earth and other equal-area maps wherever the size of continents is compared.
When to choose a different projection
All of the projections below are equal-area too. They differ in the shape of the frame and in how much they distort outlines.
- Mollweide: when the map should be an ellipse, for example in a scientific publication. Shapes near the edges are squeezed harder.
- Gall-Peters: when you must fill a rectangle. Countries near the equator will look clearly stretched vertically.
- Goode's interrupted homolosine: when only the land matters and the oceans may be cut.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, because it is equal-area: the areas of countries keep their true ratios. Its weakness is shape, as countries near the equator look stretched vertically. Equal Earth gives the same true areas with more natural shapes.
Tiled web maps use a Mercator variant called Web Mercator. Zoomed out to the whole world, it strongly enlarges areas far from the equator, so Canada or Russia look much bigger than they are next to tropical countries.
Open the Equal Earth map in the lab and drag a country's outline somewhere else. The move is a rotation on the sphere, so on an equal-area map the outline keeps its area and only its shape changes.
The best projection for other jobs
- Thematic and data mapsEqual Earth
- Wall maps and postersWinkel Tripel
- Flight routesGnomonic
- Navigation and compass coursesMercator
- Web maps and appsMercator
- Distances from one placeAzimuthal Equidistant
- The Arctic and AntarcticaAzimuthal Equidistant
- Oceans and currentsSpilhaus Projection
- Teaching geographyEqual Earth