New Zealand on five projections
New Zealand covers 277,260 km² of ground. Mercator draws it 1.80 times over. Area and shape readings on all five projections, each one measured.
This object
- True area
- 277,260 km²
- Anchor latitude
- 41.6° S
- Angular radius
- 7.1°
- Draggable latitude range
- -80.6° … 78.0°
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 | 1.34 | 1.34 |
| Mercator | 1.80 | 1.00 constant |
| Natural Earth | 1.22 | 1.84 |
| Equal Earth | 1.00 constant | 2.30 |
| Gall-Peters | 1.00 constant | 1.12 |
Mercator inflates it most, 1.80 times over. Equal Earth stretches it most: its long axis is 2.30 times its short one.
The same size, drawn otherwise
These are within 5 percent of New Zealand's true area, and sit at a very different latitude. It is a fact about the Earth, and it is interesting because most projections disagree with it.
- Gabon: Gabon covers 270,690 km²; this covers 277,260. They sit 41 degrees apart in latitude, and Mercator draws one 1.79 times the other.
- Burkina Faso: Burkina Faso covers 272,621 km²; this covers 277,260. They sit 29 degrees apart in latitude, and Mercator draws one 1.70 times the other.
Bigger than the map admits
These cover more ground than New Zealand and Mercator draws them smaller anyway.
- Somalia: Somalia is truly 1.75 times larger, and Mercator still draws this one 1.01 times bigger.
- Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea is truly 1.68 times larger, and Mercator still draws this one 1.05 times bigger.
- Cameroon: Cameroon is truly 1.67 times larger, and Mercator still draws this one 1.06 times bigger.
- Yemen: Yemen is truly 1.65 times larger, and Mercator still draws this one 1.00 times bigger.
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 New Zealand across the latitude bands and the readout follows.