Greenland vs Brazil: the map's favourite illusion
Brazil is almost four times the size of Greenland — 8.52 million km² to 2.14 million — though the Mercator map draws them as near equals.
By W. Viljoen · Published 21 June 2026
Greenlandvs
Brazil- Greenland2,142,677 km² · 9.9× on the map
- Brazil8,523,993 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 continent that isn't
On most world maps Greenland sprawls across the top like a landmass to rival
South America itself. Set it against Brazil and the map looks like a fair fight.
It isn't — not even close.
The numbers
- Greenland: ~2.14 million km²
- Brazil: ~8.52 million km²
Brazil is almost four times the area of Greenland. You could fit nearly four
Greenlands inside Brazil and still have room left over.
Why the map lies
Greenland sits between about 60 and 83° north — the most distorted band on the
whole projection, where Mercator inflates everything enormously. Brazil straddles
the equator and the tropics, where the map is close to honest. One is blown up,
the other shown true; the result is a wildly unfair contest drawn as a draw.
Try it
Grab Greenland and drag it down toward Brazil. Because the app keeps its real
surface area, it shrinks dramatically on the way south — until its honest size next
to Brazil makes the illusion obvious.