How big is Australia really?
Australia covers 7,692,024 km² (2,970,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.25 times bigger than it really is.
See Australia at its true size on the map →True size vs the map
Both drawn at the same scale. The map keeps shapes but swells everything away from the equator.
Australia in numbers
- Australia is the 6th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: Brazil (8,515,767 km²), China (9,596,961 km²), United States (9,826,675 km²).
- Australia is about 22% smaller than the United States.
Why the map gets Australia wrong
Australia lies around 26°S. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.11 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.23 times too big near its middle. Most web maps use this projection because it keeps angles and shapes right for navigation, not because it shows sizes fairly.
In Globegami you can drag a copy of Australia anywhere on Earth: it keeps its true size and grows or shrinks on the map as it moves, and you can fold the map back into a globe.
Compare Australia
Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works