Far Off
How many Frances fit into Russia, Canada and China?
Russia holds 31 metropolitan Frances, or 25 once you count the overseas territories. Ten area ratios, and why two reputable sources disagree on them.
7 min read Read the articleSize and scale
Africa is fourteen times larger than Greenland. On a wall map they look the same size.
The Mercator projection, used on classroom maps and most online maps, preserves angles at the cost of areas. The further you go from the equator, the more territories swell: Russia, Canada and Greenland become enormous, while Africa and South America shrink.
The result is a lastingly distorted intuition. Comparing real sizes and distances means relearning how to read a planet you thought you knew.
The scale of the world in numbers
- 30.3 million km² for Africa against 2.2 million for Greenland: a ratio of 14 to 1.
- 551,695 km² for mainland France, roughly 18 times smaller than the United States.
- 40,075 km of Earth circumference at the equator, against 40,008 through the poles.
- 71% of the globe’s surface is covered by water.
- Almost a year of continuous walking at five kilometres an hour to cover one turn of the Earth, oceans excluded.
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Frequently asked questions about scale
What is the true size of Africa?
About 30.3 million square kilometres, enough to hold the United States, China, India and much of Europe combined. On a Mercator map the continent looks considerably smaller than it is.
Is Greenland as big as Africa?
No, and the gap is enormous: Greenland covers 2.2 million square kilometres, Africa 30.3 million. Africa is fourteen times larger. The illusion comes from the Mercator projection, which stretches areas as you approach the poles.
Why do maps distort sizes?
Because no spherical surface can be flattened without distortion. Every projection chooses what to preserve: Mercator keeps angles, which is useful for navigation, and sacrifices areas. Other projections do the opposite.
How many times does France fit into the United States?
About 18 times, comparing mainland France (551,695 km²) with the United States (9.8 million km²). Counting overseas territories brings the ratio down to around 15.
What is the circumference of the Earth?
40,075 kilometres at the equator and 40,008 kilometres through the poles. The Earth is not a perfect sphere but a slightly flattened ellipsoid, which accounts for the 67-kilometre difference.