United States vs Australia: size comparison
United States is 1.3 times the size of Australia.
- United States 9,833,520 km²
- Australia 7,692,020 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
United States is centred around 40°N and Australia around 26°S. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws United States 1.7 times and Australia 1.2 times larger than they would appear at the equator.
So on a typical world map, United States looks 1.7 times the size of Australia. In reality United States is 1.3 times the size of Australia.
| Country | True area | Centred around | Mercator enlargement |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 9,833,520 km² | 40°N | ×1.7 |
| 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 Australia
- Greenland vs United States
- Russia vs United States
- Russia vs Australia
- Canada vs United States
- United States vs China
- United States vs Brazil
- Australia vs Brazil
- India vs United States
- India vs Australia
- Greenland vs DR Congo
- Greenland vs Brazil
- Greenland vs India
- Greenland vs Mexico
- Greenland vs Saudi Arabia
- Greenland vs Algeria
- Russia vs Canada
- Russia vs China
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United States vs Australia: questions
Which is bigger, United States or Australia?
United States is 1.3 times the size of Australia. United States covers 9,833,520 km² and Australia covers 7,692,020 km².
Why do United States and Australia look a different size on world maps?
United States is centred around 40°N and Australia around 26°S. At those latitudes the Mercator projection used by most world maps draws United States 1.7 times and Australia 1.2 times larger than they would appear at the equator. So on a typical world map, United States looks 1.7 times the size of Australia.
How many times does Australia fit into United States?
By area, Australia would fit into United States about 1.3 times.