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How the crowd draws

803 drawings of its land border and 805 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Iran

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area1,622,000 km²626,000 sq mi1,516,000 km²585,000 sq mi6.5% smaller
Outline7,605 km4,726 mi6,862 km4,264 mi9.8% shorter
Centre54.44° E, 32.53° N54.4° E, 32.5° N54.47° E, 32.49° N54.5° E, 32.5° N5 km south-east3 mi south-east
Westernmost44.02° E, 39.38° N44.0° E, 39.4° N44.50° E, 39.33° N44.5° E, 39.3° N41 km short26 mi short
Easternmost63.31° E, 27.13° N63.3° E, 27.1° N63.17° E, 27.17° N63.2° E, 27.2° N14 km short9 mi short
Southernmost61.41° E, 25.06° N61.4° E, 25.1° N61.40° E, 25.12° N61.4° E, 25.1° N6 km short4 mi short
Northernmost44.57° E, 39.77° N44.6° E, 39.8° N44.72° E, 39.52° N44.7° E, 39.5° N27 km short17 mi short

Near the land border, 68% of the crowd’s lines run inside Iran. Near the coast, 51% 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.

Iran and Iraq: 1,129 km in the game, 1,599 km officially.

Iran’s coast: 2,886 km in the game, 3,180 km officially.

7 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Iraq1,129 km in the game1,599 km officially992 km the crowd’s12.1% shorter
Turkmenistan887 km in the game1,148 km officially749 km the crowd’s15.6% shorter
Afghanistan839 km in the game921 km officially779 km the crowd’s7.2% shorter
Pakistan786 km in the game959 km officially759 km the crowd’s3.4% shorter
Azerbaijan549 km in the game689 km officially596 km the crowd’s8.6% longer
Turkey412 km in the game534 km officially340 km the crowd’s17.5% shorter
Armenia26 km in the game44 km officially33 km the crowd’s26.9% longer
The coast2,886 km in the game3,180 km officially2,459 km the crowd’s14.8% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Iran: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Iran 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 1,608 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 1,608.

11 small pieces of Iran, 1,828 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 Iran yourself and add your line to the next update.