South Sudan on five projections
South Sudan covers 627,559 km² of ground. Mercator draws it 1.02 times over. Area and shape readings on all five projections, each one measured.
This object
- True area
- 627,559 km²
- Anchor latitude
- 7.3° N
- Angular radius
- 6.4°
- Draggable latitude range
- -81.3° … 80.7°
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 | 1.01 | 1.01 |
| Mercator | 1.02 | 1.00 constant |
| Natural Earth | 1.01 | 1.15 |
| Equal Earth | 1.00 constant | 1.34 |
| Gall-Peters | 1.00 constant | 1.97 |
Mercator inflates it most, 1.02 times over. Gall-Peters stretches it most: its long axis is 1.97 times its short one.
The same size, drawn otherwise
These are within 5 percent of South Sudan'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.
- France: France covers 643,775 km²; this covers 627,559. They sit 37 degrees apart in latitude, and Mercator draws one 1.91 times the other.
- Afghanistan: Afghanistan covers 652,520 km²; this covers 627,559. They sit 27 degrees apart in latitude, and Mercator draws one 1.43 times the other.
Bigger than the map admits
Mercator draws nothing larger than South Sudan 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 South Sudan across the latitude bands and the readout follows.