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How the crowd draws

179 drawings of its land border and 697 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 22 September 2026 to 26 October 2026.

Draw Gabon

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area261,000 km²101,000 sq mi253,000 km²98,000 sq mi3.0% smaller
Outline3,949 km2,454 mi3,287 km2,043 mi16.8% shorter
Centre11.79° E, 0.59° S11.8° E, 0.6° S11.88° E, 0.55° S11.9° E, 0.5° S11 km north-east7 mi north-east
Westernmost8.70° E, 0.59° S8.7° E, 0.6° S9.11° E, 1.07° S9.1° E, 1.1° S46 km short28 mi short
Easternmost14.50° E, 0.63° S14.5° E, 0.6° S14.47° E, 0.63° S14.5° E, 0.6° S3 km short2 mi short
Southernmost11.11° E, 3.93° S11.1° E, 3.9° S11.11° E, 3.92° S11.1° E, 3.9° S2 km short1 mi short
Northernmost11.65° E, 2.32° N11.7° E, 2.3° N12.32° E, 2.29° N12.3° E, 2.3° N4 km short2 mi short

Near the land border, 47% of the crowd’s lines run inside Gabon. Near the coast, 74% 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.

Gabon and Congo: 1,453 km in the game, 2,567 km officially.

Gabon’s coast: 1,848 km in the game, 885 km officially.

3 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Congo1,453 km in the game2,567 km officially1,548 km the crowd’s6.5% longer
Eq. Guinea333 km in the game345 km officially332 km the crowd’s0.3% shorter
Cameroon234 km in the game349 km officially230 km the crowd’s1.7% shorter
The coast1,848 km in the game885 km officially1,022 km the crowd’s44.7% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Gabon: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Gabon 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 876 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.

2 small pieces of Gabon, 127 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 Gabon yourself and add your line to the next update.