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How the crowd draws

611 drawings of its land border and 630 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Iraq

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area438,000 km²169,000 sq mi426,000 km²164,000 sq mi2.7% smaller
Outline3,456 km2,148 mi3,361 km2,089 mi2.7% shorter
Centre43.78° E, 33.01° N43.8° E, 33.0° N43.77° E, 33.07° N43.8° E, 33.1° N7 km north4 mi north
Westernmost38.77° E, 33.37° N38.8° E, 33.4° N39.00° E, 33.32° N39.0° E, 33.3° N21 km short13 mi short
Easternmost48.56° E, 29.95° N48.6° E, 30.0° N48.54° E, 29.96° N48.5° E, 30.0° N1 km short1 mi short
Southernmost46.34° E, 29.06° N46.3° E, 29.1° N46.41° E, 29.37° N46.4° E, 29.4° N34 km short21 mi short
Northernmost42.77° E, 37.38° N42.8° E, 37.4° N42.80° E, 37.28° N42.8° E, 37.3° N11 km short7 mi short

Near the land border, 52% of the crowd’s lines run inside Iraq. Near the coast, 50% 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.

Iraq and Iran: 1,135 km in the game, 1,599 km officially.

Iraq’s coast: 88 km in the game, 58 km officially.

6 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Iran1,135 km in the game1,599 km officially1,130 km the crowd’s0.4% shorter
Saudi Arabia816 km in the game811 km officially760 km the crowd’s6.9% shorter
Syria593 km in the game599 km officially572 km the crowd’s3.5% shorter
Turkey270 km in the game367 km officially267 km the crowd’s1.1% shorter
Kuwait200 km in the game254 km officially207 km the crowd’s3.5% longer
Jordan177 km in the game179 km officially171 km the crowd’s3.4% shorter
The coast88 km in the game58 km officially82 km the crowd’s6.8% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Iraq: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Iraq 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 1,241 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 1,241.

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