What do you think of this fact?
The Moon is an entire celestial body, Australia is “just” a continent. Still, Australia wins a comparison almost nobody expects: width.
The numbers
Australia is almost 4,000 kilometers (about 2,485 miles) wide from west to east. According to Snopes, which checked the claim, that holds up: the Moon’s diameter at its equator is about 3,476 kilometers. Universe Today gives the mean diameter as 3,474 kilometers. So roughly 3,475 kilometers.
Put Australia and the Moon side by side and Australia sticks out past the Moon on both sides. A difference of about 500 kilometers, roughly the distance from London to Edinburgh.
The catch
Of course, the Moon isn’t that small. Snopes points out that the comparison is literally true but a bit misleading. The Moon is a sphere, Australia is a flat landmass. The Moon’s total surface area is far bigger than Australia’s.
So it’s like comparing a football with a large pizza box. The box can be wider, even though the ball has much more surface.
Bonus fact: The Moon is slightly narrower at the poles than at the equator. According to Universe Today, it measures about 3,472 kilometers from pole to pole.
Still, the comparison helps put both in perspective. The Moon looks huge in the sky but is smaller than most people think. And Australia is bigger than it looks on a lot of world maps.
So anyone who drives across Australia has covered a longer distance than straight across the Moon. With a much better view of kangaroos.