How big is Madagascar really?

Madagascar covers 587,295 km² (227,000 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 Madagascar 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.

Madagascar in numbers

Madagascar is the 45th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
Countries of about the same true size: Morocco (582,000 km²), Botswana (581,737 km²), Kenya (581,309 km²).
Madagascar is 2.4 times the size of the United Kingdom.

Why the map gets Madagascar wrong

Madagascar lies around 19°S. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.06 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.12 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 Madagascar 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