How big is Italy really?
Italy covers 302,068 km² (117,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.86 times bigger than it really is.
See Italy 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.
Italy in numbers
- Italy is the 73rd largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- On the map Italy looks bigger than Thailand, but Thailand is really 1.7 times larger.
- Countries of about the same true size: Oman (309,500 km²), Poland (312,683 km²), Côte d'Ivoire (322,463 km²).
- Italy is about 25% bigger than the United Kingdom.
Why the map gets Italy wrong
Italy lies around 43°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.38 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.9 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 Italy 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 Italy
Areas: official totals including inland water (UN Statistics Division via Wikidata). Outlines: Natural Earth. How Globegami works