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How the crowd draws

1,206 drawings of its land border and 1,000 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 16 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Germany

In numbers

Last updated on 28 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area355,000 km²137,000 sq mi342,000 km²132,000 sq mi3.7% smaller
Outline4,497 km2,794 mi3,821 km2,374 mi15.0% shorter
Centre10.35° E, 51.04° N10.4° E, 51.0° N10.46° E, 51.05° N10.5° E, 51.1° N8 km east5 mi east
Westernmost5.86° E, 51.02° N5.9° E, 51.0° N6.33° E, 50.18° N6.3° E, 50.2° N33 km short20 mi short
Easternmost15.02° E, 51.25° N15.0° E, 51.3° N14.88° E, 51.41° N14.9° E, 51.4° N10 km short6 mi short
Southernmost10.17° E, 47.27° N10.2° E, 47.3° N10.32° E, 47.42° N10.3° E, 47.4° N17 km short10 mi short
Northernmost8.42° E, 55.06° N8.4° E, 55.1° N8.42° E, 55.06° N8.4° E, 55.1° Nthe same

Near the land border, 57% of the crowd’s lines run inside Germany. Near the coast, 64% 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.

Germany and Austria: 556 km in the game, 801 km officially.

Germany’s coast: 1,571 km in the game, 2,389 km officially.

9 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Austria556 km in the game801 km officially551 km the crowd’s0.9% shorter
Czechia515 km in the game704 km officially454 km the crowd’s11.8% shorter
Netherlands410 km in the game575 km officially322 km the crowd’s21.5% shorter
Poland366 km in the game447 km officially361 km the crowd’s1.4% shorter
France328 km in the game418 km officially343 km the crowd’s4.6% longer
Switzerland197 km in the game348 km officially150 km the crowd’s23.9% shorter
Luxembourg92 km in the game128 km officially94 km the crowd’s2.2% longer
Belgium92 km in the game133 km officially97 km the crowd’s5.4% longer
Denmark70 km in the game140 km officially69 km the crowd’s1.4% shorter
The coast1,571 km in the game2,389 km officially1,014 km the crowd’s35.5% shorter

States of Germany

16 states, 16 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 (1.5 MB)
Another country and GermanyFrom where are you from; no answer left outDownload (1.3 MB)
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (2.0 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (2.1 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.3 MB)
The drawings stacked as blocksWhere many drawings pass, the stack growsDownload (5.0 MB)

Watch every state being drawn

See every line on The Drawn Germany →
The worst 20% and the best 20%By how close a drawing comes to the stateDownload (1.7 MB)
Another country and GermanyFrom where are you from; no answer left outDownload (1.5 MB)
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (2.0 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (2.0 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.5 MB)

How it is measured

The crowd’s Germany: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Germany 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 2,206 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 2,206.

20 small pieces of Germany, 1,849 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 Germany yourself and add your line to the next update.