How big is Syria really?

Syria covers 185,180 km² (71,500 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.49 times bigger than it really is.

See Syria 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.

Syria in numbers

Syria is the 88th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
On the map Syria looks bigger than Gabon, but Gabon is really 1.45 times larger.
Countries of about the same true size: Cambodia (181,035 km²), Uruguay (176,215 km²), Somaliland (176,120 km²).
Syria is about 24% smaller than the United Kingdom.

Why the map gets Syria wrong

Syria lies around 35°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.22 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.49 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 Syria 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