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How the crowd draws

1,056 drawings of its land border and 785 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 17 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Canada

In numbers

Last updated on 28 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area9,082,000 km²3,507,000 sq mi8,801,000 km²3,398,000 sq mi3.1% smaller
Outline49,093 km30,505 mi37,559 km23,338 mi23.5% shorter
Centre96.67° W, 59.28° N96.7° W, 59.3° N97.30° W, 58.75° N97.3° W, 58.7° N70 km south-west43 mi south-west
Westernmost141.01° W, 68.76° N141.0° W, 68.8° N139.63° W, 69.68° N139.6° W, 69.7° N56 km short35 mi short
Easternmost52.70° W, 47.39° N52.7° W, 47.4° N52.75° W, 47.89° N52.8° W, 47.9° N4 km short2 mi short
Southernmost82.41° W, 41.68° N82.4° W, 41.7° N82.55° W, 42.13° N82.5° W, 42.1° N49 km short31 mi short
Northernmost86.20° W, 73.85° N86.2° W, 73.9° N85.15° W, 73.67° N85.1° W, 73.7° N20 km short13 mi short

Near the land border, 45% of the crowd’s lines run inside Canada. Near the coast, 61% 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.

Canada and United States of America: 7,354 km in the game, 8,891 km officially.

Canada’s coast: 76,071 km in the game, 202,080 km officially.

1 neighbour
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
United States of America7,354 km in the game8,891 km officially7,045 km the crowd’s4.2% shorter
The coast76,071 km in the game202,080 km officially54,953 km the crowd’s27.8% shorter

Provinces, territories and islands of Canada

18 provinces, territories and islands, 18 with a page

Watch the drawings

See every line on The Drawn World →
The worst 20% and the best 20%By how close a drawing comes to the countryDownload (1.2 MB)
Another country and CanadaFrom where are you from; no answer left outDownload (1.0 MB)
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (1.5 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (1.5 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.4 MB)
The drawings stacked as blocksWhere many drawings pass, the stack growsDownload (3.4 MB)

Watch every region being drawn

See every line on The Drawn Canada →
The worst 20% and the best 20%By how close a drawing comes to the regionDownload (1.5 MB)
Another country and CanadaFrom where are you from; no answer left outDownload (1.4 MB)
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (1.8 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (1.8 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.7 MB)

How it is measured

The crowd’s Canada: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Canada 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 1,841 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 1,841.

405 small pieces of Canada, 767,000 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.

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

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