How big is the United Arab Emirates really?
The United Arab Emirates covers 83,600 km² (32,300 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.2 times bigger than it really is.
See the United Arab Emirates 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 United Arab Emirates in numbers
- The United Arab Emirates is the 116th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- Countries of about the same true size: Austria (83,879 km²), Azerbaijan (86,600 km²), Czechia (78,871 km²).
- The United Kingdom is 2.9 times the size of the United Arab Emirates.
Why the map gets the United Arab Emirates wrong
The United Arab Emirates lies around 24°N. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.09 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.2 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 United Arab Emirates 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