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How the crowd draws

231 drawings of its land border, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 26 October 2026.

Draw Zambia

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area756,000 km²292,000 sq mi711,000 km²274,000 sq mi5.9% smaller
Outline5,166 km3,210 mi5,097 km3,167 mi1.3% shorter
Centre27.81° E, 13.45° S27.8° E, 13.5° S28.08° E, 13.49° S28.1° E, 13.5° S30 km east19 mi east
Westernmost21.98° E, 14.24° S22.0° E, 14.2° S22.10° E, 13.06° S22.1° E, 13.1° S13 km short8 mi short
Easternmost33.66° E, 10.55° S33.7° E, 10.5° S33.47° E, 10.64° S33.5° E, 10.6° S21 km short13 mi short
Southernmost26.76° E, 18.04° S26.8° E, 18.0° S26.01° E, 17.96° S26.0° E, 18.0° S9 km short6 mi short
Northernmost30.72° E, 8.20° S30.7° E, 8.2° S30.55° E, 8.49° S30.6° E, 8.5° S33 km short20 mi short

Near the land border, 55% of the crowd’s lines run inside Zambia.

Borders

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.

Zambia and Dem. Rep. Congo: 1,837 km in the game, 2,332 km officially.

7 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Dem. Rep. Congo1,837 km in the game2,332 km officially1,836 km the crowd’s0.1% shorter
Angola1,034 km in the game1,065 km officially1,026 km the crowd’s0.8% shorter
Malawi709 km in the game847 km officially641 km the crowd’s9.6% shorter
Zimbabwe685 km in the game763 km officially659 km the crowd’s3.8% shorter
Mozambique412 km in the game439 km officially435 km the crowd’s5.6% longer
Tanzania301 km in the game353 km officially306 km the crowd’s1.7% longer
Namibia211 km in the game244 km officially217 km the crowd’s2.8% longer

How it is measured

The crowd’s Zambia: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Zambia 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 231 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.

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