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How the crowd draws

325 drawings of its land border and 394 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s Australia map, 26 September 2026 to 28 October 2026.

Draw South Australia

In numbers

Last updated on 28 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area967,000 km²374,000 sq mi989,000 km²382,000 sq mi2.2% bigger
Outline6,266 km3,894 mi5,574 km3,464 mi11.0% shorter
Centre135.76° E, 30.11° S135.8° E, 30.1° S135.57° E, 30.08° S135.6° E, 30.1° S19 km west12 mi west
Westernmost129.00° E, 31.66° S129.0° E, 31.7° S128.95° E, 28.74° S128.9° E, 28.7° S5 km beyond3 mi beyond
Easternmost141.00° E, 34.01° S141.0° E, 34.0° S140.95° E, 38.01° S140.9° E, 38.0° S5 km short3 mi short
Southernmost140.67° E, 38.06° S140.7° E, 38.1° S140.93° E, 38.03° S140.9° E, 38.0° S4 km short2 mi short
Northernmost140.98° E, 26.00° S141.0° E, 26.0° S136.70° E, 25.94° S136.7° E, 25.9° S7 km beyond4 mi beyond

Near the land border, 49% of the crowd’s lines run inside South Australia. Near the coast, 41% 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 Geoscience Australia (mainland coasts, islands left out), 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.

South Australia’s coast: 3,291 km in the game, 3,815 km officially.

5 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Northern Territory907 km in the game913 km the crowd’s0.7% longer
Queensland631 km in the game619 km the crowd’s1.9% shorter
Western Australia626 km in the game632 km the crowd’s1.0% longer
New South Wales557 km in the game556 km the crowd’s0.2% shorter
Victoria462 km in the game464 km the crowd’s0.4% longer
The coast3,291 km in the game3,815 km officially2,548 km the crowd’s22.6% shorter

Watch the drawings

See every line on The Drawn Australia →
The worst 20% and the best 20%By how close a drawing comes to the stateDownload (0.8 MB)
Another country and AustraliaFrom where are you from; no answer left outDownload (0.9 MB)
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (1.1 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (1.1 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.2 MB)
The drawings stacked as blocksWhere many drawings pass, the stack growsDownload (5.5 MB)

How it is measured

The crowd’s South Australia: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside South Australia 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 719 drawings that scored 10 or more on Borderline’s Australia 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 South Australia yourself and add your line to the next update.