How big is Greenland? Many maps do not show accurate size.

[Stuart G]

Alaska is 663 000 square miles
Greenland is 836 000 square miles.

Therefore Greenland is about 170,000 square miles larger than Alaska (about 27 percent larger than Alaska)
Greenland's population is approximately 57,000 people.

Just for information. It is also farther north than Alaska. Yes, from a geographical view, Greenland is part of North America, but historically and politically it has been often associated with Europe (due to history and politics)

[Wounded Bear]

1. Most people use Mercator projection maps...

which make Greenland appear way larger than it actually is.


:large

[Stuart G]

2. Yes, I am aware of what you have noted. Also, Greenland is very cold.

Very, very, and very cold. Thank You for showing us why we all get the size of Greenland wrong.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Didn't mean to be snarky...

but anyway, apparently Mr Ericcson called it Greenland as a marketing ploy to get people to go there worthy of our esteemed Press-ident.

[tblue37]

5. Not for long. nt

[backscatter712]

6. Yep. The Mercator projection preserves direction, but really distorts area in the northern latitudes

Of course, you use different maps for different jobs, because it's impossible to render Earth's curved surface onto a flat paper or screen without distorting it.

[Wounded Bear]

12. The Mercator projection is accurate for Latitude, virtually ignores longitude...

Early sailors could measure latitude fairly easier with a sextant, but until the invention of an accurate clock that would work on a pitching ship at sea, longitude was at best an educated guess. Navigation back in the day was almost a case of "sail north or south to the proper latitude then sail east or west til you get close enough to the coast to spot some landmarks." Not quite that bad, but close.

[Yonnie3]

3. Just about the size of the Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.

from https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/louisiana-lewis-clark/the-louisiana-purchase/

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Slightly smaller than Trump's bloated ego

but not by much.

[Mosby]

14. Lol.

[SeattleVet]

9. One good thing if we do acquire Greenland...

it would make Texas the THIRD largest state!

[kairos12]

10. The most fascinating atlas I ever encountered

depicted the entire world from the perspective of Antartica. Mind blowing.

[Ghost Dog]

15. Like this but the other way round?

[IcyPeas]

11. Note: also, Africa is HUUGE.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. There's probably a shit ton of oil and around it that has yet to be explored due to the mile of ice.