At 113,990 square miles, Arizona is a big state — the 6th largest by area, to be exact. In fact, Arizona is larger than many countries. If it were a country, it would rank as the 73rd largest, unseating Ecuador. However, those stats may not give you a great idea of how Arizona’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 Arizona 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 Arizona to countries around the world, then added some extra data around each country. Ever wondered if Iceland is bigger than Arizona, as it appears on most maps? Check out the infographic to find out.
Embed this image on your site (copy the code below):
