The Mercator Map

Introduction

The Mercator map has been lying to you. Greenland looks almost the same size as Africa — but in reality, Africa is more than 14 times larger. You could fit the U.S., China, India, and most of Europe inside Africa and still have room left. This map shows the real land areas: • Africa: 30.3 million km² • Russia: 17 million km² • Canada: 9.9 million km² • U.S.: 9.8 million km² • Greenland: just 2.1 million km² On a globe, the proportions are clear. But on flat maps like Mercator, land near the poles gets stretched, making Greenland look huge — when in fact, it’s smaller than Algeria alone. Source; Geoallday

Guiding Questions

• Why do some countries shrink more than others?

Key Mathematical Concepts

Helpful Resources

• https://www.facebook.com/geoallday
• https://www.facebook.com/100067977844303/posts/pfbid0fbFR7SQWmZmgVGdKAGYPxSZwRyVysVhn7fQHwVbdyTxaWySAeAXFgRBtxTfEesHSl/