How big is Uruguay really?
Uruguay covers 176,215 km² (68,000 sq mi). On the usual world map (the Mercator projection) it is drawn about 1.42 times bigger than it really is.
See Uruguay 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.
Uruguay in numbers
- Uruguay is the 90th largest of the 196 countries and territories in Globegami.
- On the map Uruguay looks bigger than Uganda, but Uganda is really 1.37 times larger.
- Countries of about the same true size: Somaliland (176,120 km²), Cambodia (181,035 km²), Syria (185,180 km²).
- Uruguay is about 27% smaller than the United Kingdom.
Why the map gets Uruguay wrong
Uruguay lies around 33°S. A Mercator map stretches distances there by about 1.19 times in every direction, so areas come out roughly 1.42 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 Uruguay 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