Greenland vs Australia: size comparison
Australia is 3.6 times the size of Greenland.
- Greenland 2,166,086 km²
- Australia 7,692,020 km²
Drag a country, see its true size
Loading the map...
Drag the coloured shape anywhere on the map. It keeps its real size on the globe, so the map redraws it bigger near the poles and smaller near the equator.
Why they look different on a map
Greenland is centred around 75°N and Australia around 26°S. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws Greenland 14 times and Australia 1.2 times larger than they would appear at the equator.
So on a typical world map, Greenland looks 3.3 times the size of Australia. In reality Australia is 3.6 times the size of Greenland. The map gets it backwards: the country that looks bigger is actually the smaller one.
| Country | True area | Centred around | Mercator enlargement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 75°N | ×14 |
| Australia | 7,692,020 km² | 26°S | ×1.2 |
The stretch is 1 divided by the cosine of the latitude, squared. At 60° north a country is drawn four times larger than the same country would be at the equator.
More size comparisons
- Greenland vs DR Congo
- Greenland vs United States
- Greenland vs Brazil
- Greenland vs India
- Greenland vs Mexico
- Greenland vs Saudi Arabia
- Greenland vs Algeria
- Russia vs Australia
- United States vs Australia
- Australia vs Brazil
- India vs Australia
- Russia vs Canada
- Russia vs United States
- Russia vs China
- Russia vs Brazil
- Russia vs India
- Canada vs United States
- Canada vs China
Practice with Games
Ready to test what you learned? Jump into a game and put it into practice.
Greenland vs Australia: questions
Which is bigger, Greenland or Australia?
Australia is 3.6 times the size of Greenland. Greenland covers 2,166,086 km² and Australia covers 7,692,020 km².
Why do Greenland and Australia look a different size on world maps?
Greenland is centred around 75°N and Australia around 26°S. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws Greenland 14 times and Australia 1.2 times larger than they would appear at the equator. So on a typical world map, Greenland looks 3.3 times the size of Australia.
How many times does Greenland fit into Australia?
By area, Greenland would fit into Australia about 3.6 times.