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How the crowd draws the

814 drawings of its land border and 680 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 23 September 2026 to 26 October 2026.

Draw the United Kingdom

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area232,000 km²89,000 sq mi215,000 km²83,000 sq mi7.1% smaller
Outline7,250 km4,505 mi6,539 km4,063 mi9.8% shorter
Centre2.68° W, 53.89° N2.7° W, 53.9° N2.63° W, 54.02° N2.6° W, 54.0° N16 km north10 mi north
Westernmost8.17° W, 54.46° N8.2° W, 54.5° N7.77° W, 54.51° N7.8° W, 54.5° N26 km short16 mi short
Easternmost1.76° E, 52.51° N1.8° E, 52.5° N1.51° E, 52.68° N1.5° E, 52.7° N17 km short10 mi short
Southernmost5.19° W, 49.97° N5.2° W, 50.0° N5.63° W, 50.10° N5.6° W, 50.1° N14 km short9 mi short
Northernmost3.39° W, 58.67° N3.4° W, 58.7° N3.34° W, 58.64° N3.3° W, 58.6° N3 km short2 mi short

Near the land border, 59% of the crowd’s lines run inside the United Kingdom. Near the coast, 58% 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.

United Kingdom and Ireland: 310 km in the game, 499 km officially.

United Kingdom’s coast: 7,776 km in the game, 12,429 km officially.

1 neighbour
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Ireland310 km in the game499 km officially263 km the crowd’s15.2% shorter
The coast7,776 km in the game12,429 km officially7,025 km the crowd’s9.7% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s United Kingdom: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside the United Kingdom 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 1,494 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 1,494.

54 small pieces of the United Kingdom, 11,000 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 the United Kingdom yourself and add your line to the next update.