Africa Is Larger Than You Think

The common world map, a familiar sight in classrooms and online, presents a significantly distorted view of our planet's geography. This is largely due to the widespread use of the Mercator projection, a cartographic method developed by Gerardus Mercator in 1569. This projection was revolutionary for its time, designed to aid sailors by representing lines of constant compass bearing as straight lines, making navigation more straightforward. However, this navigational convenience comes at the cost of accurately representing land area. The Mercator projection dramatically inflates the size of landmasses farther from the equator, while shrinking areas near it.

Consequently, Africa, which straddles the equator, appears deceptively small in comparison to landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere. For instance, on a Mercator map, Greenland can appear to be roughly the same size as Africa, when in reality, Africa is about 14 times larger. This visual distortion has led to a widespread underestimation of the continent's true scale. Africa's vast 30.37 million square kilometers could comfortably contain the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and numerous European nations combined.

The persistence of the Mercator projection in educational materials and popular media has had a lasting impact on our collective geographical consciousness. It has unintentionally reinforced a skewed perception of the world, diminishing the perceived importance of equatorial regions. In recent years, there has been a growing movement to adopt alternative map projections, such as the Equal Earth projection, which more accurately depict the relative sizes of continents and countries. These efforts aim to correct the historical misrepresentation and foster a more accurate understanding of the world's geography.