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Greenland vs Libya: true size

Closer than most people guess: Greenland (2,166,086 km²) is only about 23% larger than Libya (1,759,540 km²).

Greenland sits in North America, Libya in Africa. On the old Mercator map the latitude gap distorted how large each felt beside the other; at true size the answer is simply 1.2×.

The old map muddied it further: Mercator inflates Greenland about 11.8× and Libya about 1.3×, so on a Mercator-style map this pair appears 11.5× apart instead of the true 1.2×.

Libya fits 1× into Greenland.

Greenland vs Libya: key figures

Measure	Greenland	Libya
True area	2,166,086 km² · #12	1,759,540 km² · #17
Mercator inflation	11.8×	1.3×
Apparent on Mercator	25,576,494 km²	2,217,020 km²

See Greenland at true size →See Libya at true size →This pair on the old map vs the new map →Africa vs Greenland →Asia vs Greenland →Europe vs Greenland →