How big is North Korea really?

North Korea covers 120,540 km² (46,500 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.71 times bigger than it really is.

See North Korea 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.

North Korea in numbers

North Korea is the 98th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
On the map North Korea looks bigger than Cambodia, but Cambodia is really 1.5 times larger.
Countries of about the same true size: Nicaragua (120,340 km²), Malawi (118,484 km²), Eritrea (117,600 km²).
The United Kingdom is 2 times the size of North Korea.

Why the map gets North Korea wrong

North Korea lies around 40°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.31 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.71 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 North Korea 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