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How the crowd draws

620 drawings of its land border and 601 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 21 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw DR Congo

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area2,335,000 km²902,000 sq mi2,185,000 km²844,000 sq mi6.4% smaller
Outline9,266 km5,757 mi9,291 km5,773 mi0.3% longer
Centre23.63° E, 2.87° S23.6° E, 2.9° S23.40° E, 3.15° S23.4° E, 3.2° S41 km south-west26 mi south-west
Westernmost12.22° E, 5.76° S12.2° E, 5.8° S12.25° E, 5.77° S12.2° E, 5.8° S3 km short2 mi short
Easternmost31.28° E, 2.16° N31.3° E, 2.2° N30.90° E, 2.03° N30.9° E, 2.0° N42 km short26 mi short
Southernmost29.76° E, 13.46° S29.8° E, 13.5° S29.06° E, 13.19° S29.1° E, 13.2° S29 km short18 mi short
Northernmost25.55° E, 5.37° N25.6° E, 5.4° N19.56° E, 4.98° N19.6° E, 5.0° N44 km short27 mi short

Near the land border, 60% of the crowd’s lines run inside DR Congo. Near the coast, 69% 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.

DR Congo and Angola: 2,133 km in the game, 2,646 km officially.

DR Congo’s coast: 148 km in the game, 37 km officially.

9 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Angola2,133 km in the game2,646 km officially2,207 km the crowd’s3.5% longer
Zambia1,843 km in the game2,332 km officially1,794 km the crowd’s2.7% shorter
Congo1,366 km in the game1,775 km officially1,405 km the crowd’s2.9% longer
Central African Rep.1,211 km in the game1,747 km officially1,170 km the crowd’s3.4% shorter
Uganda683 km in the game877 km officially705 km the crowd’s3.2% longer
S. Sudan496 km in the game714 km officially481 km the crowd’s3.0% shorter
Tanzania470 km in the game479 km officially455 km the crowd’s3.2% shorter
Burundi200 km in the game236 km officially190 km the crowd’s5.0% shorter
Rwanda193 km in the game221 km officially195 km the crowd’s1.0% longer
The coast148 km in the game37 km officially137 km the crowd’s7.4% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s DR Congo: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside DR Congo 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 1,221 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 1,221.

One small piece of DR Congo, 117 km², keeps its real shape, shown flat: islands no round asks players to draw, or too small to measure. They count in no figure.

Draw DR Congo yourself and add your line to the next update.