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How the crowd draws

1,215 drawings of its land border and 835 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Mexico

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area1,957,000 km²756,000 sq mi2,241,000 km²865,000 sq mi14.5% bigger
Outline14,875 km9,243 mi13,511 km8,395 mi9.2% shorter
Centre102.16° W, 23.92° N102.2° W, 23.9° N102.31° W, 23.83° N102.3° W, 23.8° N18 km south-west11 mi south-west
Westernmost117.13° W, 32.52° N117.1° W, 32.5° N117.17° W, 32.54° N117.2° W, 32.5° N5 km beyond3 mi beyond
Easternmost86.77° W, 21.16° N86.8° W, 21.2° N87.22° W, 20.93° N87.2° W, 20.9° N47 km short29 mi short
Southernmost92.27° W, 14.57° N92.3° W, 14.6° N92.41° W, 14.43° N92.4° W, 14.4° N16 km beyond10 mi beyond
Northernmost114.73° W, 32.71° N114.7° W, 32.7° N114.74° W, 32.71° N114.7° W, 32.7° N1 km short0 mi short

Near the land border, 40% of the crowd’s lines run inside Mexico. Near the coast, 39% 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.

Mexico and United States of America: 2,474 km in the game, 3,155 km officially.

Mexico’s coast: 13,238 km in the game, 9,330 km officially.

3 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
United States of America2,474 km in the game3,155 km officially2,412 km the crowd’s2.5% shorter
Guatemala813 km in the game958 km officially748 km the crowd’s8.0% shorter
Belize147 km in the game276 km officially154 km the crowd’s4.8% longer
The coast13,238 km in the game9,330 km officially11,768 km the crowd’s11.1% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Mexico: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Mexico 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 2,050 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 2,050.

50 small pieces of Mexico, 5,676 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 Mexico yourself and add your line to the next update.