After Seeing These 15 Maps You’ll Never Look At The World The Same.

[ShahdagMountains]

The misperception of the sizes of countries on maps is a common phenomenon that can be attributed to the Mercator Projection. The task of transforming a three-dimensional planet onto a two-dimensional plane posed a considerable challenge for early cartographers, which prompted Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator to devise a solution. In 1569, Mercator created a map that was accurately usable for navigation, but the downside was that his system resulted in distorted sizes of objects based on their positions relative to the equator. This distortion causes landmasses, such as Greenland and Antarctica, to appear much larger than they actually are.

To illustrate the flawed nature of our understanding of country sizes, a website named thetruesize.com allows you to move landmasses to different locations. Bored Panda conducted an experiment on this website, which resulted in some intriguing findings.

One moment, please...

 

[Vastator]

I still look at it the same...

 

[ShahdagMountains]

I’m often in the United States, and after periods of studying latitudes, l realise that it’s (all of it) a southern country.

 

[Dekster]

here is a site for comparisons MyLifeElsewhere.com: Worldwide Country and City Comparison

Fun fact: Ireland is only slightly larger than West Virginia

 

[DGS49]

It is quite striking to realize how far north the major cities in Europe are. Few people think of Berlin, for example, or Amsterdam, as being at the same latitude as southern Canada.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

It is quite striking to realize how far north the major cities in Europe are. Few people think of Berlin, for example, or Amsterdam, as being at the same latitude as southern Canada.

It is quite striking to realize how far north the major cities in Europe are. Few people think of Berlin, for example, or Amsterdam, as being at the same latitude as southern Canada.

For example:

Miami is on the same latitude as Egypt and Missoula is on the same latitude as Switzerland.

 

[The Duke]

Texas is bigger than...

 

[The Duke]

Is the State of Georgia bigger than the country of Georgia?

It is!

Georgia: country data and statistics

Georgia in numbers: demographics, economy, energy, climate and more data and comparisons with other countries.

www.worlddata.info

Georgia Population 2024 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)

worldpopulationreview.com

 

[ShahdagMountains]

Texas is bigger than...

Everywhere.

 

[American Eagle]

Everywhere.

Alaska. Putting Texans in their place since 1959.

 

[luiza]

The misperception of the sizes of countries on maps is a common phenomenon that can be attributed to the Mercator Projection.

Absolutely correct .
The British Isles is a prime example .
Its actual size is around twenty times that typically shown on maps.

Which is why we win so many Wars and Olympic Medals .
The opposition underrate us .