Zambia on five projections
Zambia covers 754,673 km² of ground. Mercator draws it 1.06 times over. Area and shape readings on all five projections, each one measured.
This object
- True area
- 754,673 km²
- Anchor latitude
- 13.4° S
- Angular radius
- 6.5°
- Draggable latitude range
- -80.6° … 80.2°
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 | 1.03 |
| Mercator | 1.06 | 1.00 constant |
| Natural Earth | 1.02 | 1.14 |
| Equal Earth | 1.00 constant | 1.31 |
| Gall-Peters | 1.00 constant | 1.89 |
Mercator inflates it most, 1.06 times over. Gall-Peters stretches it most: its long axis is 1.89 times its short one.
The same size, drawn otherwise
Nothing in the catalogue is close to Zambia's area at a far enough latitude to be worth the comparison.
Bigger than the map admits
Mercator draws nothing larger than Zambia 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 Zambia across the latitude bands and the readout follows.