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How the crowd draws

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

Draw Laos

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area229,000 km²88,000 sq mi191,000 km²74,000 sq mi16.5% smaller
Outline3,794 km2,357 mi3,632 km2,257 mi4.3% shorter
Centre103.78° E, 18.49° N103.8° E, 18.5° N103.62° E, 18.74° N103.6° E, 18.7° N33 km north-west20 mi north-west
Westernmost100.12° E, 20.26° N100.1° E, 20.3° N100.34° E, 20.41° N100.3° E, 20.4° N23 km short14 mi short
Easternmost107.65° E, 15.26° N107.7° E, 15.3° N107.36° E, 14.69° N107.4° E, 14.7° N31 km short19 mi short
Southernmost106.05° E, 13.92° N106.1° E, 13.9° N106.01° E, 14.00° N106.0° E, 14.0° N8 km short5 mi short
Northernmost101.75° E, 22.49° N101.7° E, 22.5° N101.85° E, 22.27° N101.9° E, 22.3° N24 km short15 mi short

Near the land border, 62% of the crowd’s lines run inside Laos.

Borders

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.

Laos and Vietnam: 1,484 km in the game, 2,161 km officially.

5 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Vietnam1,484 km in the game2,161 km officially1,385 km the crowd’s6.7% shorter
Thailand1,425 km in the game1,845 km officially1,373 km the crowd’s3.6% shorter
Cambodia382 km in the game555 km officially366 km the crowd’s4.2% shorter
China321 km in the game475 km officially348 km the crowd’s8.4% longer
Myanmar206 km in the game238 km officially184 km the crowd’s10.7% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Laos: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Laos 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 524 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.

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