How big is Minnesota compared to Lake Superior?
Minnesota measures 655.8 km (407.5 mi) north to south, and Lake Superior measures 590 km (366.6 mi) east to west. That puts Minnesota at 1.11 times the measured size of Lake Superior: 65.8 km (40.9 mi) of difference, 11%. The two are not judged on the same axis: Minnesota is quoted as a north-south span and Lake Superior as an east-west span, so the honest statement is one figure against the other, 90% of it, and not one outline against another. Minnesota and Lake Superior are both written in hundreds of kilometres, and the 11% between them is the whole of the difference.
| Object | Real size | Axis measured | What the figure covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 655.8 km 407.5 mi |
North-south span | Widest extent of the outline on that axis |
| Lake Superior | 590 km 366.6 mi |
East-west span | Widest extent of the outline on that axis |
Both figures, Minnesota and Lake Superior, come from the Size It Up measurement set, one real-world size and one measured axis per object, last checked in September 2026; outline provenance is listed on the sources page.
Why this one is hard to judge by eye
The outline of Minnesota that most people carry comes from a world map, and every projection that keeps angles true stretches whatever sits far from the equator; the outline of Lake Superior above is scaled from measured distances instead. A gap of 11% is invisible without a shared baseline: on the ground line above, Lake Superior stops 65.8 km (40.9 mi) short of Minnesota. On the drawing above Minnesota is about 1.15 times as tall as it is wide and Lake Superior about 2.06 times as wide as it is tall, so the two outlines fill the frame in ways that have nothing to do with the one axis being compared.
What each figure covers
Minnesota. Minnesota is measured north to south. Its northern tip is the only piece of the contiguous United States lying above the forty-ninth parallel.
Lake Superior. Lake Superior is measured east to west. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, and that span is why storms on it behave like sea storms.
Minnesota is quoted as a north-south span and Lake Superior as an east-west span: two conventions, so the ratio compares the two numbers rather than the two objects.
What else is about that size?
Measured the same way, Minnesota at 655.8 km sits within a tenth of Côte d'Ivoire at 709.3 km, South Korea at 601.6 km and Ghana at 714.4 km. Lake Superior at 590 km has Washington at 591.6 km, Hawaii at 578.4 km and Cambodia at 572.8 km for company, within a tenth. Swapping any of those in for Minnesota would move its ratio to Lake Superior by less than 10%.