How big is India really?
India covers 3,287,263 km² (1,270,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.19 times bigger than it really is.
See India 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.
India in numbers
- India is the 7th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: Argentina (2,780,400 km²), Kazakhstan (2,724,900 km²), Algeria (2,381,741 km²).
- The United States is 3 times the size of India.
Why the map gets India wrong
India lies around 23°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.08 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.18 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 India 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 India
Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works