Why every world map you're looking at is WRONG

Srinivas_K

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Why every world map you're looking at is WRONG: Africa, China and India are distorted despite access to accurate satellite data


-> The distortion is the result of the Mercator map which was created in 1596 to help sailors navigate the world
-> It gives the right shapes of countries but at the cost of distorting sizes in favour of the wealthy lands to the north
-> For instance, north America looks larger, or at least as big, as Africa, and Greenland also looks of comparable size
-> In reality, you can fit north America into Africa and still have space for India, Argentina, Tunisia and some left over
-> Map suggests Scandinavian countries are larger than India, whereas in reality India is three times the size
-> The biggest challenge for cartographers is that it is impossible to portray reality of spherical world on a flat map


Take a look at a map today, and you're likely to see that North America is larger than Africa, Alaska is larger than Mexico and China is smaller than Greenland.
But in reality China is four times bigger than Greenland, Africa is three times bigger than North America and Mexico is larger than Alaska.
The distortion is the result of the Mercator projection, the map most commonly seen hanging in classrooms and in text books, which was created in 1596 to help sailors navigate the world.

Much of this is due to technical reasons, said Mr Wan, while others inconsistences are caused by ideological assumptions that can change the way we see the world.
The biggest challenge is that it is impossible to portray the reality of the spherical world on a flat map – a problem that has haunted cartographers for centuries.

One of the best alternatives to the Mercator projection was presented in 1974 by D. Arno Peters (pictured). The Gall-Peters projection makes seeing the relative size of places much easier. However it also has its flaws as certain places appear stretched, horizontally near the poles and vertically near the Equator

A depiction of the world by Henricus Martellus. It's said that Columbus used this map or one like it to persuade Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile to support him in the early 1490s. The map was made by a German cartographer living in Florence and reflects the latest theories about the form of the world and the most accurate ways of portraying it on a flat surface
As a result, shapes of world maps have typically been diverse, ranging from hearts to cones. But the diversity gradually faded away with one model, invented by Gerardus Mercator, surpassing the others.
The familiar 'Mercator' projection gives the right shapes of land masses, but at the cost of distorting their sizes in favour of the wealthy lands to the north.
For instance, in the Mercator projection, north America looks at least as big, if not slightly larger, than Africa. And Greenland also looks of comparable size.
But in reality Africa is larger than both. In fact, you can fit north America into Africa and still have space for India, Argentina, Tunisia and some left over, notes Mr Wan.
Greenland, meanwhile, is 1/14th the size of the continent as can be seen in Gall-Peters equal projection, which provides the correct proportion of land mass to the continents.
The map suggests that Scandinavian countries are larger than India, whereas in reality India is three times the size of all Scandinavian countries put together.
As well, as this, it seems the fact that our maps typically put north at the top is a mere convention but has been accepted as correct in most of the world.
Looking back, the diversity of maps can reveal a history of the world.

The Chinese Globe which was made for the Chinese Emperor in 1623. The creators exaggerated the size of China and placed it in the middle of a world that otherwise consisted mainly of small offshore islands
For instance, The 'Be On Guard!' map was created in 1921 when infant USSR was threatened with invasion, famine and social unrest.
To counter this, designers such as Dimitri Moor were employed to create pro-Bolshevik propaganda.
Using a map of European Russia and its neighbours, Moor's image of a heroic Bolshevik guard defeating the invading 'Whites' helped define the Soviet Union in the Russian popular imagination.
An earlier map, called the Hinese Globe, created in 1623 reveals the ancient Chinese view of the world.
Made for the Chinese Emperor, this is the earliest known Chinese terrestrial globe, and a fusion of East and Western cultures.
The creators exaggerated the size of China and placed it in the middle of a world that otherwise consisted mainly of small off¬shore islands.
A century earlier, the 1507 Waldseemuller map named and envisaged America as a separate continent for the first time.

Photo of a genuine hand drawn world map, it was drawn in 1844 and therefore the countries are named as they were in that period. The biggest challenge is that it is impossible to portray the reality of the spherical world on a flat map
Perhaps to emphasise the independent existence of the Americas, the map shows what we now know is the Pacific lapping the western coast of South America, though its existence was only confirmed years late.
In 2005, Google Earth presented a world in which the area of most concern to the used could be at the centre, and which - with mapped content overlaid - can contain whatever you think is important.
Almost for the first time, the ability to create an accurate map has been placed in the hands of everyone, and it has transformed the way we view the world. But it comes at a price.
There are few, if any, agreed standards about what should be included, and the less populated and 'less important' regions get ignored.

The infant USSR was threatened with invasion, famine and social unrest. To counter this, brilliant designers such as Dimitri Moor were employed to create pro-Bolshevik propaganda. Using a map of European Russia and its neighbours, Moor's image of a heroic Bolshevik guard defeating the invading 'Whites' helped define the Soviet Union in the Russian popular imagination

Google Maps claims that it is on a 'never-ending quest for the perfect map', but Jerry Brotton, historian of cartography and the author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps, isn't so sure

A Mercator map created in 1569. In the Mercator projection, north America looks at least as big, if not slightly larger, than Africa. And Greenland also looks of comparable size
Today, billions of searches are made on Google Maps each day, helping people navigate their way around, streets, towns and countries.
Google Maps claims that it is on a 'never-ending quest for the perfect map', but Jerry Brotton, historian of cartography and the author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps, isn't so sure.
He argues that all maps are of their time, their place and serve certain purposes.
'No world map is, or can be, a definitive, transparent depiction of its subject that offers a disembodied eye onto the world,' he writes.
'Each one is a continual negotiation between its makers and users, as their understanding of the world changes.'


Read more: Why every world map you're looking at is WRONG: Africa, China and India are distorted despite access to accurate satellite data | Mail Online
 
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W.G.Ewald

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On the other hand, globes, which are more accurate, are hard to navigate with.
 

Dovah

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I think @trackwhack posted about this in a thread a few months ago.
 
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Peter

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Nice post.I had actually read about this fact a few years back.Well in todays digital age real life world globes are available on the net.
 

shinoj

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I have checked the distance between Delhi-Trivandrum and it is 2875 KM and i have attached its image in Google Maps Down Below

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/D...x15439fab5c5c81cb!2m2!1d76.948623!2d8.4874949

And i have checked the distance between London-Rome and it is 1836 Km and i have attached its image in Google Map Down Below.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/L...90f770693656e38!2m2!1d12.4825199!2d41.8929163


As You can see the Distance L-R appears so much greater than D-T eventhough D-T is much greater and quite Comfortably.


The World Map surely is a Distortion and biased towards the West.
 

PredictablyMalicious

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I have checked the distance between Delhi-Trivandrum and it is 2875 KM and i have attached its image in Google Maps Down Below

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/D...x15439fab5c5c81cb!2m2!1d76.948623!2d8.4874949

And i have checked the distance between London-Rome and it is 1836 Km and i have attached its image in Google Map Down Below.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/L...90f770693656e38!2m2!1d12.4825199!2d41.8929163


As You can see the Distance L-R appears so much greater than D-T eventhough D-T is much greater and quite Comfortably.


The World Map surely is a Distortion and biased towards the West.
Racist white western thugs have destroyed humanity! The oppressed peoples will not tolerate white racist genocidal maniacs any longer! Overthrow the old order and create a new and better world! :cool2: :cool2: :cool2:
 

shinoj

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Racist white western thugs have destroyed humanity! The oppressed peoples will not tolerate white racist genocidal maniacs any longer! Overthrow the old order and create a new and better world! :cool2: :cool2: :cool2:
Thats quite right. And its the biggest evidence that the History is written by the Winners and according to their Bias. They are really Thugs. 2/3 of the Distance between Delhi and Trivandrum they have shown as almost 1 and a half times larger. Shameless Bastards.
 

PredictablyMalicious

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Thats quite right. And its the biggest evidence that the History is written by the Winners and according to their Bias. They are really Thugs. 2/3 of the Distance between Delhi and Trivandrum they have shown as almost 1 and a half times larger. Shameless Bastards.
And look at Africa. They made it look slightly bigger than South America when it is the second largest continent in the world! Shameless imperialist pigs!
 

shinoj

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And look at Africa. They made it look slightly bigger than South America when it is the second largest continent in the world! Shameless imperialist pigs!

The White thugs have exploited Poor Africa and the Africans like noone others in the History of the World.
 

PredictablyMalicious

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The White thugs have exploited Poor Africa and the Africans like noone others in the History of the World.
That's why the brown, black and yellow peoples of this world have to built ourselves up so that we can challenge the old world order and overthrow the white imperialist thugs! Black Africa is rising and white west is declining! The cycle of Karma!
 

shinoj

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That's why the brown, black and yellow peoples of this world have to built ourselves up so that we can challenge the old world order and overthrow the white imperialist thugs! Black Africa is rising and white west is declining! The cycle of Karma!
Thats right. And as of today everything is dominated by the Whites. Industries,Culture,the Media and so on. They are like the ----ing Congress of India
 

Bangalorean

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I am not quite sure if the preceding few comments are sarcastic or are made in a serious vein.

Someone ought to provide a solution - the article defined a problem very well, but didn't provide any solutions. If someone here knows of a foolproof method of representing the globe accurately on a flat surface, he ought to let us know, and we will propagate it.
 

Peter

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@Bangalorean
A better alternative has been suggested like Peter`s map.Plus as I have said before nowadays you can find software that would bring you a real life model of earth as seen from space.
Peters Map
 
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shinoj

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What i would want is that ISRO take images of the World from the sky. Not 1 or 2 but an extensive sequence of Photos of Earth and then send to our Historians to make the Map. Quite sure it would be the most accurate.

And then once its done send the Map to all our Schools and Colleges and all the Major Institutions. Foreign Maps can take a Hike and we will be using this Map after.
 

shinoj

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Just realised England is Tiny. The Distance between one of its Northern Most point,Durham, and its Southern Most Point,Canterbury, is just about 500 Kms. Thats not even the Distance between Mumbai and Goa.

Its a great shame and travesty of History that we gotten Ruled by this Tiny Schmuck.
 

Peter

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What i would want is that ISRO take images of the World from the sky. Not 1 or 2 but an extensive sequence of Photos of Earth and then send to our Historians to make the Map. Quite sure it would be the most accurate.

And then once its done send the Map to all our Schools and Colleges and all the Major Institutions. Foreign Maps can take a Hike and we will be using this Map after.
Well the images taken by NASA are accurate and they are represented on world globes .The reason why maps show discrepancies is because Mercator projection is used in our common maps.The projection is useful for navigation but its not useful for showing accurate sizes of continents.Even if ISRO takes the images the problem of representing continents on maps would remain.Even the Peter`s map which shows correct relative size has faults,
 
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shinoj

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Well the images taken by NASA are accurate and they are represented on world globes .The reason why maps show discrepancies is because Mercator projection is used in our common maps.The projection is useful for navigation but its not useful for showing accurate sizes of continents.Even if ISRO takes the images the problem of representing continents on maps would remain.Even the Peter`s map which shows correct relative size has faults,
I honestly dont buy this so called "Mercator projection" which shows Europe and North America Bigger while India and Africa smaller. What kind of Fairness is this ?
 

Peter

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I honestly dont buy this so called "Mercator projection" which shows Europe and North America Bigger while India and Africa smaller. What kind of Fairness is this ?
Yes I also think its unfair.The Indian Government can make a map that shows the correct size of India but the other continents like Africa,Europe have to be distorted.Since there is a uniform map used throughout the world(one with the Mercator projection and one thats Euro centric) the GOI is forced to follow the incorrect maps.Making an Indo centric map will be difficult as very few countries will accept it.The basic problem is reprenting a 3 D spheroid on a 2d map.You have to make certain compromises to do this.
 
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shinoj

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Yes I also think its unfair.The Indian Government can make a map that shows the correct size of India but the other continents like Africa,Europe have to be distorted.Since there is a uniform map used throughout the world(one with the Mercator projection and one thats Euro centric) the GOI is forced to follow the incorrect maps.Making an Indo centric map will be difficult as very few countries will accept it.
They should raise this in United Nations as it is imprinting false information in Peoples head. Then again our Government is too busy sucking Blood and money out of people when will they get time for all this?
 

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