How big is Namibia really?
Namibia covers 825,615 km² (319,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.17 times bigger than it really is.
See Namibia 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.
Namibia in numbers
- Namibia is the 35th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: Mozambique (801,590 km²), Turkey (783,562 km²), Pakistan (881,913 km²).
- Namibia is 3.4 times the size of the United Kingdom.
Why the map gets Namibia wrong
Namibia lies around 22°S. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.08 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.16 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 Namibia 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