How big is Ecuador really?
Ecuador covers 257,204 km² (99,300 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 Ecuador 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.
Ecuador in numbers
- Ecuador is the 77th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: Gabon (267,667 km²), New Zealand (268,021 km²), Guinea (245,857 km²).
- Ecuador and the United Kingdom are about the same size.
Why the map gets Ecuador wrong
Ecuador lies around 1°S. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.0 times in every direction, which barely changes its size. 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 Ecuador 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