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How the crowd draws

510 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 23 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw New Zealand

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area264,000 km²102,000 sq mi256,000 km²99,000 sq mi2.9% smaller
Outline7,484 km4,651 mi6,026 km3,744 mi19.5% shorter
Centre172.91° E, 41.66° S172.9° E, 41.7° S172.91° E, 41.72° S172.9° E, 41.7° S7 km south5 mi south
Westernmost166.47° E, 45.86° S166.5° E, 45.9° S166.89° E, 45.84° S166.9° E, 45.8° S32 km short20 mi short
Easternmost178.57° E, 37.71° S178.6° E, 37.7° S178.46° E, 37.71° S178.5° E, 37.7° S10 km short6 mi short
Southernmost169.01° E, 46.68° S169.0° E, 46.7° S169.01° E, 46.63° S169.0° E, 46.6° S5 km short3 mi short
Northernmost173.08° E, 34.41° S173.1° E, 34.4° S173.61° E, 34.97° S173.6° E, 35.0° S62 km short39 mi short

Near the coast, 50% run inland.

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.

New Zealand’s coast: 8,442 km in the game, 15,134 km officially.

Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
The coast8,442 km in the game15,134 km officially6,797 km the crowd’s19.5% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s New Zealand: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside New Zealand 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 510 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.

15 small pieces of New Zealand, 2,659 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 New Zealand yourself and add your line to the next update.