Biggerexia

One of the side-effects of generations of Newfoundlanders educated under a map of "the province" which showed the island of Newfoundland as if it were the province, and Labrador, if at all, at reduced scale, in an inset, is that those generations of Newfoundlanders have no idea how big — or small — their island really is.

Hence you have the caller to VOCM from a few years ago who swore up and down that Newfoundland was as big as Africa — the second-largest continent.

Or, to be more timely, you have Judy Foote saying, as she did this afternoon on CrackTalk, that the federal riding she hopes to represent "is one of the largest ridings in the country, if not the largest."

As a public service, here's a listing of federal ridings ranked by area. Random–Burin–St. George's barely even cracks the top 10%.

Note that RBSG is not even the biggest riding in the province.

     Riding                                  Area (km2)
 1   Nunavut                                 2,093,190
 2   Western Arctic                          1,346,106
 3   Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou          843,721
 4   Yukon                                     482,443
 5   Churchill                                 461,009
 6   Desnethé–Missinippi–Churchill River       347,266
 7   Skeena–Bulkley Valley                     323,720
 8   Kenora                                    321,716
 9   Labrador                                  294,330
10   Manicouagan                               252,365
11   Prince George–Peace River                 237,174
12   Peace River                               162,871
13   Algoma–Manitoulin–Kapuskasing             103,264
14   Cariboo–Prince George                      87,126
15   Thunder Bay–Superior North                 82,511
16   Yellowhead                                 76,946
17   Cypress Hills–Grasslands                   74,840
18   Kootenay–Columbia                          63,831
19   Roberval–Lac-Saint-Jean                    60,574
20   Selkirk–Interlake                          56,297
21   Vancouver Island North                     52,606
22   Dauphin–Swan River–Marquette               52,558
23   Kamloops–Thompson–Cariboo                  44,344
24   Crowfoot                                   43,759
25   Chicoutimi–Le Fjord                        43,435
26   Abitibi–Témiscamingue                      41,530
27   Souris–Moose Mountain                      40,626
28   Thunder Bay–Rainy River                    39,554
29   Random–Burin–St. George's                  38,281