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True size comparison

Greenland vs Saudi Arabia: size comparison

Greenland and Saudi Arabia are almost the same size: Greenland is only 1% larger.

  • Greenland 2,166,086 km²
  • Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 km²

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    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 Saudi Arabia around 24°N. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws Greenland 14 times and Saudi Arabia 1.2 times larger than they would appear at the equator.

    So on a typical world map, Greenland looks 12 times the size of Saudi Arabia. In reality Greenland is 1.01 times the size of Saudi Arabia.

    Country True area Centred around Mercator enlargement
    Greenland 2,166,086 km² 75°N ×14
    Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 km² 24°N ×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.

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    Greenland vs Saudi Arabia: questions

    Which is bigger, Greenland or Saudi Arabia?

    Greenland and Saudi Arabia are almost the same size: Greenland is only 1% larger. Greenland covers 2,166,086 km² and Saudi Arabia covers 2,149,690 km².

    Why do Greenland and Saudi Arabia look a different size on world maps?

    Greenland is centred around 75°N and Saudi Arabia around 24°N. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws Greenland 14 times and Saudi Arabia 1.2 times larger than they would appear at the equator. So on a typical world map, Greenland looks 12 times the size of Saudi Arabia.

    How many times does Saudi Arabia fit into Greenland?

    Only once: the two are within 1% of each other, so Saudi Arabia covers almost all of Greenland.