Africa and Greenland: the size behind the image.

A fair visual comparison needs a common area scale. Try estimating the ratio before revealing our area chart. Its squares deliberately replace coastlines: an area ratio does not mean fourteen Greenland-shaped pieces can tile Africa without gaps.

UNEP gives about 30 million km² for Africa and adjacent islands. Statistics Greenland lists 2,166,086 km² for Greenland. Dividing gives about 13.85. Because the Africa baseline is rounded, “about fourteen times” is the appropriate conclusion.

Comparing only Greenland’s ice-free area would answer a different question. Definitions of included islands and waters also matter; keep them with the source.

Spherical Mercator’s local area scale is 1 / cos² φ relative to the equator: four at 60° and about 33.2 at 80°, in either hemisphere. Greenland spans many latitudes. Multiplying its whole area by the scale factor at a single centre is therefore incorrect; the distortion must be integrated across the region.

Equal Earth preserves area ratios while changing shapes and angles. A chart isolates the numerical comparison. A globe displays the curved surface but cannot show all places at once. Questions about routes, coastline shapes or distances require other information.

Africa is a diverse continent; Greenland is an island with its own society and history. Their area ratio does not rank cultural importance or explain lived experience. Use it to understand a cartographic property, rather than as a general measure of significance.