Madagascar vs Ukraine: closer in size than the map suggests
Madagascar is actually about 4% larger than Ukraine — 596,100 km² to 571,500 — though Mercator draws Ukraine as the bigger of the two.
By W. Viljoen · Published 21 June 2026
Madagascarvs
Ukraine- Madagascar596,085 km² · 1.1× on the map
- Ukraine571,457 km² · 2.3× 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 near dead heat
Madagascar and Ukraine are nearly the same size, with Madagascar marginally the
larger. The map hides it: Ukraine, the biggest country wholly within Europe, looks
the heavyweight, while Madagascar reads as a modest island off Africa's southeast
coast.
The numbers
- Madagascar: ~596,100 km²
- Ukraine: ~571,500 km²
Madagascar is about 4% larger — a tie, and the reverse of the map's verdict.
Why the map lies
Madagascar sits in the tropics and subtropics, roughly 12–25° south, where
Mercator stays close to honest. Ukraine lies around 44–52° north, where the
projection inflates. So Ukraine is drawn larger while Madagascar is shown near its
real scale.
Try it
Drag Ukraine south toward Madagascar. As it nears the equator its true
footprint shrinks to just under Madagascar's — the dead heat the map disguised.