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True Size of Africa


Stashed in: Facts, Best PandaWhale Posts, China!, Japan, Awesome, India, global, Africa, Europe, The World, Maps!

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Africa is bigger than the United States, China, India, Japan, and all of Europe combined.

Yes, wow.

china part 2 lol

There's the Peters Projection World Map which tries to capture the real relative sizes:

1_peters_new.jpg

This is exemplified by Greenland / Africa. Greenland is 0.8m sq ft and Africa is 11.6m sq ft but old (Mercator Projection) maps make Greenland look bigger:

greenafrica.gif

Read more about the Peters Map:

The Peters Projection World Map is one of the most stimulating, and controversial, images of the world. When this map was first introduced by historian and cartographer Dr. Arno Peters at a Press Conference in Germany in 1974 it generated a firestorm of debate. The first English-version of the map was published in 1983, and it continues to have passionate fans as well as staunch detractors.

The earth is round. The challenge of any world map is to represent a round earth on a flat surface. There are literally thousands of map projections. Each has certain strengths and corresponding weaknesses. Choosing among them is an exercise in values clarification: you have to decide what's important to you. That is generally determined by the way you intend to use the map. The Peters Projection is an area acurate map.

It's mind blowing when you compare it with the (traditional) Mercator projection.

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