Belarus vs Guyana: the same size, opposite ends of the map
Guyana is actually about 3% larger than Belarus — 212,600 km² to 207,100 — yet Mercator draws Belarus as the bigger one.
By W. Viljoen · Published 21 June 2026
Belarusvs
Guyana- Belarus207,094 km² · 2.8× on the map
- Guyana212,614 km²
Both panels are drawn to the same scale. On the left, each country is the size the Mercator map gives it; on the right, its true size with the latitude distortion removed.A hidden match
Belarus and Guyana are nearly the same size, with Guyana slightly ahead. The map
suggests otherwise: Belarus, sitting high in Eastern Europe, looks the clear
larger, while Guyana looks like a sliver on South America's northern coast.
The numbers
- Belarus: ~207,100 km²
- Guyana: ~212,600 km²
Guyana is about 3% larger — a near tie the map gets backwards.
Why the map lies
Guyana lies in the tropics, between about 1 and 8° north, where Mercator is
nearly faithful. Belarus sits around 51–56° north, well into the stretch zone, so
it is drawn larger than life. Equal ground, unequal portrayal.
Try it
Drag Belarus south toward Guyana. Stripped of its high-latitude inflation, its
true footprint shrinks to just under Guyana's — the tropical twin the map kept
small.