How big is Iceland really?
Iceland covers 103,004 km² (39,800 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 5.6 times bigger than it really is.
See Iceland 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.
Iceland in numbers
- Iceland is the 108th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- On the map Iceland looks bigger than Thailand, but Thailand is really 5 times larger.
- Countries of about the same true size: South Korea (100,295 km²), Guatemala (108,889 km²), Cuba (109,884 km²).
- The United Kingdom is 2.4 times the size of Iceland.
Why the map gets Iceland wrong
Iceland lies around 65°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 2.4 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 5.6 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 Iceland 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 Iceland
Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works