What this map shows
On an ordinary map, land area decides how big a country looks. Here, each country’s area is proportional to its population instead, so the map shows where the world’s 8.1 billion people actually live.
35%of all people live in India (17.9%) or China (17.4%)
×21Bangladesh grows about 21 times its true size
÷17Australia shrinks to about a seventeenth of its size
÷27Mongolia shrinks the most of any large country (only the territory of Greenland shrinks more)
Things to notice
- South Asia swells. India grows about 7.6× and Bangladesh about 21×. Together with Pakistan, the region is home to roughly a quarter of humanity.
- Big, empty countries collapse. Canada shrinks about 14×, Russia about 7×, Kazakhstan about 8×. Their land is vast but thinly settled.
- Crowded small countries puff up. The United Kingdom grows about 4.8×, Japan about 5.6× and Germany about 3.9×.
- Nigeria outgrows its neighbours. It grows about 4.2×, reflecting the largest population in Africa.
For teachers
- Ask students to predict which countries will grow and shrink before pressing Play warp.
- Switch to GDP and compare: which countries are big on one map and small on the other, and why?
- Use Your numbers to map something the class has counted or researched.
Data and method
Population: World Bank, indicator SP.POP.TOTL, 2024. Borders: Natural Earth. Areas are computed on the Equal Earth projection, which keeps true proportions of area. The warp uses the heat-flow method described on How it works. Places without World Bank figures, such as Taiwan and Western Sahara, keep their true size and are shown in grey.
How to cite
Stretchy Maps (2026). The world, resized by population. https://stretchymaps.com/