← Every country

How the crowd draws

287 drawings of its land border and 199 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Timor-Leste

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area15,000 km²5,788 sq mi14,000 km²5,220 sq mi9.8% smaller
Outline856 km532 mi931 km579 mi8.8% longer
Centre125.85° E, 8.83° S125.9° E, 8.8° S125.86° E, 8.87° S125.9° E, 8.9° S5 km south3 mi south
Westernmost124.03° E, 9.34° S124.0° E, 9.3° S124.03° E, 9.34° S124.0° E, 9.3° Sthe same
Easternmost127.31° E, 8.41° S127.3° E, 8.4° S127.31° E, 8.41° S127.3° E, 8.4° S1 km short0 mi short
Southernmost124.26° E, 9.50° S124.3° E, 9.5° S125.06° E, 9.50° S125.1° E, 9.5° Sthe same
Northernmost126.97° E, 8.31° S127.0° E, 8.3° S126.97° E, 8.33° S127.0° E, 8.3° S2 km short1 mi short

Near the land border, 55% of the crowd’s lines run inside Timor-Leste. Near the coast, 54% 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.

Timor-Leste and Indonesia: 208 km in the game, 253 km officially.

Timor-Leste’s coast: 646 km in the game, 706 km officially.

1 neighbour
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Indonesia208 km in the game253 km officially248 km the crowd’s19.2% longer
The coast646 km in the game706 km officially655 km the crowd’s1.4% longer

How it is measured

The crowd’s Timor-Leste: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Timor-Leste 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 486 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.

One small piece of Timor-Leste, 150 km², keeps its real shape, shown flat: islands no round asks players to draw, or too small to measure. They count in no figure.

Draw Timor-Leste yourself and add your line to the next update.