How big is China really?
China covers 9,596,961 km² (3,710,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.59 times bigger than it really is.
See China 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.
China in numbers
- China is the 4th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: United States (9,826,675 km²), Canada (9,984,670 km²), Brazil (8,515,767 km²).
- China and the United States are about the same size.
Why the map gets China wrong
China lies around 37°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.25 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.56 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 China 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 China
Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works