At 54,555 square miles, New York is a mid-sized state — in fact it’s almost precisely in the middle, ranking as the 27th largest US state by area. Surprisingly enough, were New York a country, it would also be considered mid-sized, ranking as the 95th largest country by area, just a tag larger than Greece. However, those stats may not give you a great idea of how New York’s girth actually compares to different countries, since size is often better understood visually.
But before you head off to Google Maps to see how New York compares to other countries, keep in mind that Google Maps uses the Mercator projection, a 2D map projection that sacrifices size in order to maintain shape. These map distortions warp landmasses to make them look larger the further they are from the equator.
In order to get around Mercator distortions, we used thetruesize.com, which corrects for Mercator distortions, to create our maps comparing New York to countries around the world, then added some extra data around each country. Ever wondered if Iceland is bigger than New York, as it appears on most maps? Or how New York’s size compares to South Korea’s? Check out the infographic to find out.
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