How big is Belarus really?
Belarus covers 207,597 km² (80,200 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 2.8 times bigger than it really is.
See Belarus 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.
Belarus in numbers
- Belarus is the 85th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- On the map Belarus looks bigger than Kenya, but Kenya is really 2.8 times larger.
- Countries of about the same true size: Guyana (214,970 km²), Kyrgyzstan (199,951 km²), Senegal (196,722 km²).
- Belarus is about 14% smaller than the United Kingdom.
Why the map gets Belarus wrong
Belarus lies around 54°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.68 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 2.8 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 Belarus 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.
Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works