The Paradox Portal
Mathematical

Coastline Paradox

The length of a coastline depends on how you measure it

Overview

The measured length of a coastline increases as the measurement unit decreases, potentially to infinity.

As you use smaller measuring units for a coastline, you capture more detail (inlets, rocks), increasing the total length. There's no 'true' length - it depends on the scale of measurement. This applies to all irregular natural boundaries.

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