Brazil on five projections
Brazil covers 8,540,708 km² of ground. Mercator draws it 1.06 times over. Area and shape readings on all five projections, each one measured.
The area is barely touched
Brazil covers 8,540,708 km², anchored at 10.7° S. Mercator inflates it just 1.06 times, and all five projections read within 1.06 on area. That is what being near the equator buys.
Gall-Peters nearly doubles its shape
Gall-Peters stretches Brazil's shape to 1.93 and Equal Earth to 1.33. Low latitudes are where a cylindrical equal-area projection pays: to hold the area it has to pull equatorial land north-south. Brazil's area reading is a perfect 1.00; its shape is not. That is why this site always shows both axes - with one, every map can pretend it does not distort.
This object
- True area
- 8,540,708 km²
- Anchor latitude
- 10.7° S
- Angular radius
- 23.1°
- Draggable latitude range
- -61.9° … 85.1°
On five projections
Each number is measured against its own projection's equator, not against another projection. These five rows do not share an axis - they are five answers to the same question: what did this map give up to lay this place flat?
| Projection | Area distortion | Shape distortion |
|---|---|---|
| Equirectangular | 1.03 | 1.02 |
| Mercator | 1.06 | 1.00 constant |
| Natural Earth | 1.02 | 1.15 |
| Equal Earth | 1.00 constant | 1.33 |
| Gall-Peters | 1.00 constant | 1.93 |
Mercator inflates it most, 1.06 times over. Gall-Peters stretches it most: its long axis is 1.93 times its short one.
The same size, drawn otherwise
Nothing in the catalogue is close to Brazil's area at a far enough latitude to be worth the comparison.
Bigger than the map admits
Mercator draws nothing larger than Brazil smaller than it.
On an equal-area projection this section is empty, for every object there is. An equal-area map draws in proportion to true area, so it cannot draw a larger thing smaller. That is a definition, not a coincidence.
Open it in the tool
Drag Brazil across the latitude bands and the readout follows.