Greenland vs United States: size comparison
United States is 4.5 times the size of Greenland.
- Greenland 2,166,086 km²
- United States 9,833,520 km²
Drag a country, see its true size
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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 United States around 40°N. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws Greenland 14 times and United States 1.7 times larger than they would appear at the equator.
So on a typical world map, Greenland looks 1.9 times the size of United States. In reality United States is 4.5 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 |
| United States | 9,833,520 km² | 40°N | ×1.7 |
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 Australia
- Greenland vs Brazil
- Greenland vs India
- Greenland vs Mexico
- Greenland vs Saudi Arabia
- Greenland vs Algeria
- Russia vs United States
- Canada vs United States
- United States vs China
- United States vs Brazil
- United States vs Australia
- India vs United States
- Russia vs Canada
- Russia vs China
- Russia vs Brazil
- Russia vs Australia
- Russia vs India
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Greenland vs United States: questions
Which is bigger, Greenland or United States?
United States is 4.5 times the size of Greenland. Greenland covers 2,166,086 km² and United States covers 9,833,520 km².
Why do Greenland and United States look a different size on world maps?
Greenland is centred around 75°N and United States around 40°N. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws Greenland 14 times and United States 1.7 times larger than they would appear at the equator. So on a typical world map, Greenland looks 1.9 times the size of United States.
How many times does Greenland fit into United States?
By area, Greenland would fit into United States about 4.5 times.