How big is Eritrea really?

Eritrea covers 117,600 km² (45,400 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 Eritrea 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.

Eritrea in numbers

Eritrea is the 101st largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
Countries of about the same true size: Malawi (118,484 km²), Nicaragua (120,340 km²), Benin (114,763 km²).
The United Kingdom is 2.1 times the size of Eritrea.

Why the map gets Eritrea wrong

Eritrea lies around 15°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.04 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 Eritrea 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