How big is the Dominican Republic really?
The Dominican Republic covers 48,671 km² (18,800 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn close to its true size: it lies near the equator, where the usual world map stretches little.
See the Dominican Republic 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.
The Dominican Republic in numbers
- The Dominican Republic is the 131st largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: Slovakia (49,034 km²), Costa Rica (51,180 km²), Bosnia and Herzegovina (51,209 km²).
- The United Kingdom is 5 times the size of the Dominican Republic.
Why the map gets the Dominican Republic wrong
The Dominican Republic lies around 19°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.06 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.12 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 the Dominican Republic 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