How big is the Netherlands really?
The Netherlands covers 42,201 km² (16,300 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 2.7 times bigger than it really is.
See the Netherlands 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.
The Netherlands in numbers
- The Netherlands is the 134th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- On the map the Netherlands looks bigger than Western Sahara, but Western Sahara is really 2.2 times larger.
- Countries of about the same true size: Denmark (42,925 km²), Switzerland (41,291 km²), Estonia (45,335 km²).
- The United Kingdom is 5.7 times the size of the Netherlands.
Why the map gets the Netherlands wrong
The Netherlands lies around 52°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.63 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 2.7 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 the Netherlands 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