At 65,755 square miles, Florida is the 22nd-largest state by land area, placing it right smack in the middle of the pack. But how big is it really? 65,755 square miles is a hard number to comprehend, so you might be tempted to look at a map to get a visual sense of Florida’s size. But be careful: most 2D maps massively distort area in favor of shape and presentation. This includes Google Maps, which uses the Mercator Projection, where geographic bodies become larger as you move further from the equator to the poles.
In order to compensate for these mapping distortions, we used special mapping software to create an outline of Florida. As we move the outline around the map, it changes its shape to account for the projection’s distorting effects. This allowed us to create the following maps which accurately compare Florida’s size to bodies of land around the world. For Floridians more familiar with Florida’s size, these maps should help put the size of other places in perspective and show how much these map distortions affect our perception. For those less familiar with Florida, these maps will help give you an idea of the Sunshine State’s true size.
Also, because this is the kind of thing we think about at SelfStorage.com, you’d need 9,165,720,960 10×20 storage units to store Florida.
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