← United Kingdom

How the crowd draws

10 drawings of its land border and 50 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s United Kingdom map, 28 September 2026 to 26 October 2026.

In numbers

Last updated on 28 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area2,684 km²1,036 sq mi2,601 km²1,004 sq mi3.1% smaller
Outline314 km195 mi295 km183 mi6.2% shorter
Centre1.77° W, 54.68° N1.8° W, 54.7° N1.76° W, 54.67° N1.8° W, 54.7° N1 km east0 mi east
Westernmost2.36° W, 54.70° N2.4° W, 54.7° N2.33° W, 54.69° N2.3° W, 54.7° N2 km short1 mi short
Easternmost1.15° W, 54.65° N1.1° W, 54.6° N1.15° W, 54.65° N1.1° W, 54.7° Nthe same
Southernmost1.46° W, 54.45° N1.5° W, 54.5° N1.91° W, 54.47° N1.9° W, 54.5° N2 km short1 mi short
Northernmost1.74° W, 54.92° N1.7° W, 54.9° N1.82° W, 54.89° N1.8° W, 54.9° N3 km short2 mi short

Near the land border, 55% of the crowd’s lines run inside Durham. Near the coast, 45% run inland.

Borders and coast

4 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
North Yorkshire129 km in the game106 km the crowd’s17.8% shorter
Tyne and Wear56 km in the game45 km the crowd’s19.6% shorter
Northumberland49 km in the game47 km the crowd’s4.1% shorter
Cumbria49 km in the game66 km the crowd’s34.7% longer
The coast32 km in the game29 km the crowd’s9.4% shorter
The worst 20% and the best 20%By how close a drawing comes to the countyDownload (0.2 MB)
Not enough drawings yet
Another country and the UKFrom where are you from; no answer left out4 of 10 drawings from another country needed
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (0.2 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (0.2 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.1 MB)
The drawings stacked as blocksWhere many drawings pass, the stack growsDownload (1.2 MB)

How it is measured

The crowd’s Durham: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Durham 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 60 drawings that scored 10 or more on Borderline’s United Kingdom 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.

Measuring how far the crowd moves the centre was Matt Forrest’s idea (forrest.nyc).

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