Wood Buffalo National Park, to scale

Wood Buffalo National Park covers 45,423 km². On the equator the map draws it honestly — which is exactly why it looks so small. Drag it north and watch its real scale appear.

By W. Viljoen · Published 21 June 2026

Wood Buffalo National ParkvsCosta Rica

On the Mercator map

True size

Wood Buffalo National Park45,423 km² · 3.8× on the map
Costa Rica51,475 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.

The numbers

Wood Buffalo National Park covers 45,423 km².

For scale, Costa Rica covers 51,475 km².

Why the map oversells it

Mercator inflates area by sec²(latitude): nothing on the equator, about double at 45°, and more than triple past 55°.

Because Wood Buffalo National Park sits up at 59°N, the map is anything but honest here — it blows the park up to about 3.9× its true area, roughly 286% more than it really covers. That inflation is the whole reason it can look a giant beside Costa Rica, which lies far closer to the equator and is drawn much nearer its real size. Drag it back toward the equator and the bloat drains away.

Try it

Wood Buffalo National Park starts the game already swollen — the readout shows it about 3.9× too big where it really sits. Drag it down to the equator and watch the multiplier fall to 1× as the footprint shrinks to its true size; haul it back north and the inflation returns.

Next in National ParksWrangell–St. Elias National Park, to scaleWrangell–St. Elias National Park covers 42,529 km². On the equator the map draws it honestly — which is exactly why it looks so small. Drag it north and watch its real scale appear.

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