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How the crowd draws

1,470 drawings of its land border and 847 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 17 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Italy

In numbers

Last updated on 28 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area300,000 km²116,000 sq mi272,000 km²105,000 sq mi9.5% smaller
Outline6,468 km4,019 mi5,526 km3,434 mi14.6% shorter
Centre12.21° E, 42.71° N12.2° E, 42.7° N12.08° E, 42.87° N12.1° E, 42.9° N20 km north-west13 mi north-west
Westernmost6.61° E, 45.10° N6.6° E, 45.1° N6.90° E, 45.03° N6.9° E, 45.0° N23 km short14 mi short
Easternmost18.51° E, 40.13° N18.5° E, 40.1° N17.11° E, 39.37° N17.1° E, 39.4° N119 km short74 mi short
Southernmost15.09° E, 36.66° N15.1° E, 36.7° N14.59° E, 36.87° N14.6° E, 36.9° N23 km short15 mi short
Northernmost12.18° E, 47.08° N12.2° E, 47.1° N11.42° E, 46.70° N11.4° E, 46.7° N43 km short27 mi short

Near the land border, 66% of the crowd’s lines run inside Italy. Near the coast, 48% 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.

Italy and Switzerland: 523 km in the game, 698 km officially.

Italy’s coast: 5,426 km in the game, 7,600 km officially.

4 neighbours
Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
Switzerland523 km in the game698 km officially457 km the crowd’s12.6% shorter
France361 km in the game476 km officially252 km the crowd’s30.2% shorter
Austria296 km in the game404 km officially238 km the crowd’s19.6% shorter
Slovenia171 km in the game218 km officially139 km the crowd’s18.7% shorter
The coast5,426 km in the game7,600 km officially4,706 km the crowd’s13.3% shorter

Regions of Italy

20 regions, 20 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 (1.7 MB)
Another country and ItalyFrom 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 (2.0 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 (4.4 MB)

Watch every region being drawn

See every line on The Drawn Italy →
The worst 20% and the best 20%By how close a drawing comes to the regionDownload (1.1 MB)
Another country and ItalyFrom where are you from; no answer left outDownload (0.8 MB)
The fastest and the slowest thirdBy time spent drawingDownload (0.6 MB)
Quickest and slowest to startBy time before the first lineDownload (0.6 MB)
Where drawings start and endStarts teal, ends pink, piled up blackDownload (0.4 MB)

How it is measured

The crowd’s Italy: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Italy 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 2,317 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 2,317.

26 small pieces of Italy, 857 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 Italy yourself and add your line to the next update.