North America on five projections
North America covers 24,407,309 km² of ground. Mercator draws it 4.64 times over. Area and shape readings on all five projections, each one measured.
The most inflated continent
North America's anchor sits at 51.9° N and Mercator draws it 4.64 times over, the highest of the six. Its 24,407,309 km² of ground occupies the space of 113 million on that map.
Africa is larger
Africa covers 30,042,133 km² against North America's 24,407,309 - 1.23 times the size. You cannot see it on Mercator. Drag both to the equator and their relative sizes come back, which is the entire reason this tool exists.
This object
- True area
- 24,407,309 km²
- Anchor latitude
- 51.9° N
- Angular radius
- 55.8°
- Draggable latitude range
- -48.9° … 54.0°
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 | 1.90 | 1.62 |
| Mercator | 4.64 | 1.00 constant |
| Natural Earth | 1.43 | 1.62 |
| Equal Earth | 1.00 constant | 1.86 |
| Gall-Peters | 1.00 constant | 1.31 |
Mercator inflates it most, 4.64 times over. Equal Earth stretches it most: its long axis is 1.86 times its short one.
The same size, drawn otherwise
Nothing in the catalogue is close to North America's area at a far enough latitude to be worth the comparison.
Bigger than the map admits
These cover more ground than North America and Mercator draws them smaller anyway.
- Africa: Africa is truly 1.23 times larger, and Mercator still draws this one 2.11 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 North America across the latitude bands and the readout follows.