How big is Greenland really?

Greenland covers 2,166,086 km² (836,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 16 times bigger than it really is.

See Greenland 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.

Greenland in numbers

Greenland is the 12th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
On the map Greenland looks bigger than the United States, but the United States is really 4.5 times larger.
Countries of about the same true size: Saudi Arabia (2,149,690 km²), DR Congo (2,344,858 km²), Algeria (2,381,741 km²).
The United States is 4.5 times the size of Greenland.

Why the map gets Greenland wrong

Greenland lies around 73°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 3.4 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 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 Greenland 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 Greenland

Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works