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30 Real World Maps That Show The True Size Of Countries
Ever wondered why Greenland looks as big as Africa on the map? It’s because of something called the Mercator projection. Putting a 3-D planet on a two-dimensional world map was a challenge for early cartographers. So, a Flemish geographer and cartographer named Gerardus Mercator came up with a solution for the most accurate world map.
In 1569, he designed an atlas that could be accurately used for navigation purposes. Still, the downside was that his system distorted the size of objects depending on their position relative to the equator.
Because of this, landmasses like Antarctica and Greenland appear much bigger than they actually are. Though there are around 40 types of map projections, from conical to polyhedral and retroazimuthal, depicting the true size of the world, this one is still used the most because of its convenience and simplicity, even by Google Maps. None of these projections can be titled the real world map because they all depict the same Earth through a different lens.
So, what does the real-world map look like? To show how incorrect our understanding of countries by size is, a website called thetruesize.com lets you move land masses into different locations. This helps you understand the true size of countries.
We at Bored Panda played a bit with this tool, and what we found will change your perspective on our planet’s geography. The website lets you juxtapose two countries together to compare their relative size.
Here’s what the real size of countries looks like.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
US Moved Down Next To Australia Looks Unbelievably Small
Yvonne Bernal 8 years ago
Size of contiguous United States Not counting Alaska & Hawaii, the 48 contiguous states occupy a combined area of 3.12 million sq. mi. While Australia is 2.99 million sq miles - I never realized they were so close in size!
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#2
Russia On The Equator Is Not A Giant Bear Anymore
#3
If Romania Was An Island In The Arctic Ocean
Ema Sklepic 8 years ago
I don't get why the map was done so inaccuratelly? can somone explain?
#4
Australia Is Way Bigger Than You May Think - It Covers Almost The Whole Of Europe
Is Africa Bigger Than it Appears on the Map?
Yes, Africa is significantly larger than it appears on many traditional maps. An interesting fact about the Mercator projection is that it distorts the sizes of landmasses as they get farther from the equator. This distortion disproportionately enlarges countries near the poles while diminishing the size of equatorial regions. As a result, Africa, which straddles the equator, is typically misrepresented as much smaller than it is in reality.
In reality, Africa covers an expansive area of about 11.7 million square miles. Its vastness is often underestimated on conventional maps, leading to misconceptions about its size and significance. On an accurate world map, Africa would appear three times the size of US.
#5
If Brazil Was In Asia It Would Be Massive
Brian Hermann 8 years ago
The map of the earth is a 2 d representation of a 3 d object, that's why the size is different, because the map is distorted.
#6
Indonesia Would Spread Almost Across The Whole Of Russia
#7
Greenland Is Not So Big When Compared To USA And Brazil
#8
When You Move Canada To South America
Laura Mackenzie-Callow 8 years ago
Nope. The width of South America at its widest point is 2,705 miles (4,353 km), The width of Canada at its widest point is 5,780 miles (9,306 km).
What is the Most Realistic World Map?
The AuthaGraph is considered to be the real world map that shows the true size of countries.
Unlike the Mercator projection, which distorts the sizes of landmasses, the AuthaGraph projection aims to maintain equal area property. This means that the relative size of continents and countries is preserved accurately. This is essential for understanding the true proportions of different regions of the world.
The AuthaGraph projection minimizes distortion by dividing the Earth’s surface into 96 regions, which are then transferred to a tetrahedron. This tetrahedron is unfolded and flattened to create a two-dimensional map.
While no projection can be perfect in preserving both area and shape, the AuthaGraph projection comes really close to showing the real size of countries.
#9
California Moved Onto The UK Shows They're Quite Similar In Size
#10
China Placed On Top Of Russia
#11
Australia Moved Onto North America Becomes REALLY Big
#12
Japan Can Stretch Almost Across Canada
Gordon Weir 8 years ago
It all has to do with putting a round object onto a flat, rectangular presentation. Locations near the poles get stretched and distorted, appearing much larger. The point of the map is that IF Japan was in that particular geographic location (closer to the North Pole), it would look much larger when transcribed onto a flat map.
Why is Greenland So Big on the Map?
Greenland appears disproportionately large on the maps due to an inherent distortion in translating the Earth’s three-dimensional, spherical surface onto a two-dimensional map.
The Mercator projection is widely used for navigational purposes because it preserves angles and, therefore, helps sailors navigate straight lines or constant compass headings. However, it doesn’t preserve area or size accurately, particularly as you move away from the equator.
It exaggerates the sizes of landmasses as they approach the poles, causing polar regions to appear much larger than they are in reality.
Greenland is situated near the North Pole, and as a result, it is significantly distorted on Mercator maps. In reality, Greenland is much smaller than it appears on traditional maps. It covers an area of approximately 850,000 square miles, making it only slightly larger than Saudi Arabia (830,000 square miles).
#13
Antarctica Is Not So Much Larger Than Brazil
#14
This Is How India Changes As You Move It North
Yvonne Bernal 8 years ago
Wholly Molley! No wonder I get so many customer service agents in India.... that is one HUGE country.
#15
Canada Moved Down Onto The US Reveals That Both Countries Are Pretty Much The Same Size
Katherine Dagold 8 years ago
but 2/3rds of Canada is uninhabitable because it's in the f-ing article circle.
#16
How This All Works
Final score:
26points
Tom Watson 8 years ago
You should move this to the top for the dimwits. This is a great series of posts. Thanks for sharing - fun stuff :D
Is the True Size Map Accurate?
The True Size Of… is an interactive tool that lets you visually compare landmass. It provides a more accurate representation of landmass sizes and minimizes distortion.
#17
USA Compared To Europe
#18
If Poland Was An Island In The Norwegian Sea
#19
The US Could Easily Cover The Whole Of Canada But It Becomes Much Smaller When It's Moved South
#20
When You Move Mexico Onto Greenland Its Size Increases Dramatically
#21
If Lithuania Was An Island In The Barents Sea And Artic Ocean
#22
Moving UK North And South Reveals How It Actually Compares To Other Countries
#23
Democratic Republic Of The Congo When You Move It North
#24
How The Size Of Russia Changes As You Move It South
#25
#27 Tiny Iceland Compared To New York
Final score:
16points
#27
Let Me Just Make This Easy; The Issue Is Peters (accurate) Vs Mercator (inaccurate).
Final score:
13points
Thorfinn Tait 8 years ago
"Peters" (actually Gall-Peters, as Gall came up with the projection long before) is no truer than Mercator overall. The key phrase here is area: Gall-Peters is designed to preserve relative areas, while Mercator preserves direction and shape. "True representation of land area" and "Incorrect/false representation of land area" are not entirely false statements, but they are too easily read as "Gall-Peters good, Mercator bad!" Which is simply not the case. But despite the famous West Wing scene, in fact there are many better projections than Gall-Peters for showing the whole world — and they have been and continue to be in use in most major publications related to maps and geography for many, many years. There's no single most popular projection, but Mollweide, Winkel Tripel, and perhaps Robinson remain some of the most common. In short: each projection has its own uses, and its own shortcomings. Mercator was never meant to be the only projection ever used.
#28
Alaska Doesn't Seem So Big When Compared To 48 Contiguous States
#29
Texas Moved On Top Of Alaska Shows That They're Almost The Same Size
jason_th_wilson 8 years ago
By almost the same size do you really mean less than half as big as Alaska?
#30
You Cannot Make Legitimate Size Comparison Unless You Are Doing So On An Equal Area Map
Final score:
10points
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What do you think ?
Intensive Panda 8 years ago
This is widely known phenomenon: the problem with our world maps is that we try to map a round object on a flat surface. As far as I know, there is no mathematical method to map it 1:1. Because of this setup, our view on countries on world maps are distorted. Also nice fact: depending on where you buy your map, it's different everywhere, as each country places itself in the middle of the map
Gabrielle B Gagné 8 years ago
Fun & true fact : Canada don't place himself in the center on the map, we actually put the Atlantic Ocean/Europe in the center (like #12; #14). This way we don't hurt anyone.
Load More Replies...
Erik Bowie 7 years ago
One thing that never amazes me is the ignorance of people. :)
Load More Replies... Intensive Panda 8 years ago
This is widely known phenomenon: the problem with our world maps is that we try to map a round object on a flat surface. As far as I know, there is no mathematical method to map it 1:1. Because of this setup, our view on countries on world maps are distorted. Also nice fact: depending on where you buy your map, it's different everywhere, as each country places itself in the middle of the map
Gabrielle B Gagné 8 years ago
Fun & true fact : Canada don't place himself in the center on the map, we actually put the Atlantic Ocean/Europe in the center (like #12; #14). This way we don't hurt anyone.
Load More Replies... Erik Bowie 7 years ago
One thing that never amazes me is the ignorance of people. :)
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