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How the crowd draws

338 drawings of its land border, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 17 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Zimbabwe

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area390,000 km²151,000 sq mi379,000 km²146,000 sq mi2.9% smaller
Outline2,686 km1,669 mi2,607 km1,620 mi2.9% shorter
Centre29.85° E, 19.00° S29.9° E, 19.0° S29.88° E, 18.98° S29.9° E, 19.0° S4 km north-east2 mi north-east
Westernmost25.23° E, 17.91° S25.2° E, 17.9° S25.32° E, 17.90° S25.3° E, 17.9° S10 km short6 mi short
Easternmost33.01° E, 19.89° S33.0° E, 19.9° S32.99° E, 18.32° S33.0° E, 18.3° S2 km short1 mi short
Southernmost31.29° E, 22.40° S31.3° E, 22.4° S30.46° E, 22.25° S30.5° E, 22.2° S17 km short11 mi short
Northernmost30.39° E, 15.64° S30.4° E, 15.6° S30.37° E, 15.68° S30.4° E, 15.7° S4 km short3 mi short

Near the land border, 56% of the crowd’s lines run inside Zimbabwe.

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.

Zimbabwe and Mozambique: 1,063 km in the game, 1,402 km officially.

4 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Mozambique1,063 km in the game1,402 km officially1,037 km the crowd’s2.4% shorter
Botswana737 km in the game834 km officially711 km the crowd’s3.5% shorter
Zambia681 km in the game763 km officially657 km the crowd’s3.5% shorter
South Africa206 km in the game230 km officially203 km the crowd’s1.5% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Zimbabwe: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Zimbabwe 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 338 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 Zimbabwe yourself and add your line to the next update.