← Every country

How the crowd draws

1,011 drawings of its land border and 933 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 26 October 2026.

Draw China

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area9,331,000 km²3,603,000 sq mi9,492,000 km²3,665,000 sq mi1.7% bigger
Outline25,297 km15,719 mi22,358 km13,893 mi11.6% shorter
Centre103.36° E, 36.77° N103.4° E, 36.8° N103.18° E, 37.14° N103.2° E, 37.1° N44 km north27 mi north
Westernmost73.64° E, 39.17° N73.6° E, 39.2° N73.81° E, 38.79° N73.8° E, 38.8° N15 km short9 mi short
Easternmost134.75° E, 47.69° N134.7° E, 47.7° N132.77° E, 45.35° N132.8° E, 45.3° N148 km short92 mi short
Southernmost109.92° E, 20.25° N109.9° E, 20.3° N110.23° E, 20.64° N110.2° E, 20.6° N43 km short27 mi short
Northernmost123.35° E, 53.56° N123.3° E, 53.6° N123.30° E, 52.82° N123.3° E, 52.8° N82 km short51 mi short

Near the land border, 48% of the crowd’s lines run inside China. Near the coast, 57% run inland.

Borders and coast

Why two lengths?

A line’s length depends on how closely it is drawn. The game’s lines are simplified: they keep a point every few kilometres and cut across small bends. The official lengths, from the CIA World Factbook, are measured on other lines. A border measured on a finer line, following every bend of its rivers and ridges, comes out longer.

Coasts differ most, and either way. Some official coastlines follow every inlet and island (Canada’s 202,080 km); others are smoothed on purpose, crossing bays and sounds (the United States’ 19,924 km), and can come out shorter than the game’s.

Players draw against the game’s line and are scored against it, so the crowd’s length is compared with the game’s, both measured the same way. Set against an official length measured another way, the comparison would say more about the two methods than about the crowd.

China and Mongolia: 4,143 km in the game, 4,630 km officially.

China’s coast: 12,619 km in the game, 14,500 km officially.

13 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Mongolia4,143 km in the game4,630 km officially4,319 km the crowd’s4.2% longer
Russia3,128 km in the game4,179 km officially2,834 km the crowd’s9.4% shorter
India2,135 km in the game2,659 km officially2,185 km the crowd’s2.3% longer
Myanmar1,437 km in the game2,129 km officially1,285 km the crowd’s10.6% shorter
Kazakhstan1,416 km in the game1,765 km officially1,343 km the crowd’s5.2% shorter
Nepal930 km in the game1,389 km officially924 km the crowd’s0.6% shorter
Vietnam909 km in the game1,297 km officially829 km the crowd’s8.8% shorter
North Korea803 km in the game1,352 km officially800 km the crowd’s0.4% shorter
Kyrgyzstan782 km in the game1,063 km officially802 km the crowd’s2.6% longer
Tajikistan380 km in the game477 km officially377 km the crowd’s0.8% shorter
Bhutan359 km in the game477 km officially271 km the crowd’s24.5% shorter
Laos317 km in the game475 km officially0 km the crowd’s100.0% shorter
Pakistan317 km in the game438 km officially354 km the crowd’s11.7% longer
The coast12,619 km in the game14,500 km officially9,157 km the crowd’s27.4% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s China: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside China or outside it; the median over a short stretch is where the crowd puts the line there, and the real outline moved by it is the crowd’s. Where the move folds a narrow inlet over itself, the loop is cut.

The 1,944 drawings that scored 10 or more on Borderline’s World map, scribbles left out, the real line the game’s own. Area true to scale; the outline copies the real line’s detail, so its length changes only where the shape moves or a loop is cut. The map lays the 1,000 most recent; the heat map, the crowd’s shape and every figure use all 1,944.

69 small pieces of China, 39,000 km² in all, keep their real shape, shown flat: islands no round asks players to draw, or too small to measure. They count in no figure.

Draw China yourself and add your line to the next update.