Japan vs Zimbabwe: nearly the same size, hidden by the map
Zimbabwe is actually about 5% larger than Japan — 391,400 km² to 374,200 — though Mercator draws Japan as the bigger one.
By W. Viljoen · Published 21 June 2026
Japanvs
Zimbabwe- Japan374,167 km² · 1.5× on the map
- Zimbabwe391,403 km² · 1.1× on the map
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 close contest
Japan and Zimbabwe are nearly the same size, with Zimbabwe slightly ahead. The
map nudges things Japan's way: stretched across the mid-northern latitudes, Japan
looks the larger, while landlocked Zimbabwe looks compact in southern Africa.
The numbers
- Japan: ~374,200 km²
- Zimbabwe: ~391,400 km²
Zimbabwe is about 5% larger — a near tie the map gets the wrong way round.
Why the map lies
Zimbabwe sits around 15–22° south, fairly near the equator, where Mercator stays
close to honest. Japan stretches from about 31 to 45° north, where the projection
inflates more. So Japan is drawn larger while Zimbabwe is shown near true scale.
Try it
Drag Japan south toward Zimbabwe. As its latitude drops, its true footprint
shrinks to just under Zimbabwe's — reversing the impression the map gave.