Why Is Greenland So Big on Maps?
On the world map you grew up with, Greenland looks as large as Africa. In reality Africa is about fourteen times bigger. The culprit is the map projection.
The short answer
Most world maps, including Google Maps, use the Mercator projection. To flatten a round planet onto a rectangle, Mercator stretches the map more and more as you move away from the equator. Greenland sits far north, so it gets enormously inflated. Africa straddles the equator, so it stays close to its true size.
The reality: Greenland is about 2.2 million km². Africa is about 30.4 million km². Greenland could fit inside Africa roughly fourteen times, yet on a Mercator map they look almost the same.
Try it: drag Greenland to the equator
On a Mercator map, a country grows the further it sits from the equator. Drag Greenland (blue) southward over Africa (green), or use the slider, and watch it shrink to its true size.
At 71°N, the Mercator projection makes Greenland look about 9.4 times its true area.
Greenland is about 2.2 million km². Africa is about 30.4 million km². Outlines from Natural Earth (public domain), shown on a Web Mercator projection.
Why a flat map has to distort
You cannot flatten a sphere onto a sheet of paper without tearing or stretching it, the same way you cannot flatten an orange peel without it splitting. Every world map makes a trade: it can keep shapes accurate, or areas accurate, or distances accurate, but never all three at once.
Mercator chooses to keep shapes and angles accurate. That makes it brilliant for navigation, because a straight line on the map is a constant compass bearing. The price is area: regions near the poles balloon in size. Greenland, Antarctica, Alaska and northern Russia all look far larger than they really are.
More illusions from the same map: Alaska looks bigger than Mexico (Mexico is larger). Russia looks larger than all of Africa (Africa is far bigger). Antarctica looks like an endless white band across the bottom of the world.
If it is so wrong, why is it still everywhere?
It is perfect for zooming
At street level, Mercator keeps local shapes correct, so buildings and roads are not skewed. That is exactly what an interactive map needs.
The maths is simple and tileable
Web Mercator turns the world into a neat square that splits cleanly into square tiles, which is why nearly every web map uses it. See EPSG:4326 vs EPSG:3857.
North is always up
Mercator keeps a consistent orientation, which is intuitive for navigation and familiar to everyone.
Projections that fix the size problem
Equal-area projections
Projections like Equal Earth, Mollweide and Gall-Peters keep every country the correct relative size. The trade is that shapes get squashed or stretched. Best when honest area comparison matters, for example showing population or land use.
Compromise projections
Robinson and Winkel Tripel do not get any single property perfect, but they spread the distortion so the whole world looks natural. The Winkel Tripel is used by National Geographic for its world maps.
There is no single best world map. The right projection depends on whether you care most about shape, area or distance. Learn more in the coordinate systems guide.
Working with real coordinates?
Free browser tools for converting coordinates and reprojecting map files between systems.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Greenland so big on maps?
Most world maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches the map increasingly toward the poles. Greenland is far north, so it is greatly inflated, while equatorial Africa stays near its true size.
Is Africa bigger than Greenland?
Yes, by a huge margin. Africa is about 30.4 million km² and Greenland is about 2.2 million km², so Africa is roughly fourteen times larger despite looking similar on a Mercator map.
Why is the Mercator projection still used?
It preserves local shapes and angles, keeps north pointing up, and maps cleanly to square tiles, which makes it ideal for zoomable web maps even though it distorts area.
What is the most accurate map projection?
There is no single most accurate world map. Equal-area projections keep sizes correct, conformal ones keep shapes correct, and compromise projections balance the two. The best choice depends on your purpose.