A map showing how small some countries really are has left people shocked.
Reddit users have been surprised by a map showing the real size of countries was posted on the site, in the week after Donald Trump showed he quite fancied a slice of Greenland – an autonomous Danish territory that looks far bigger on typical maps than it actually is.
The Mercator Map Projection was developed by a Flemish cartographer named Gerardus Mercator in 1569 and it is one of the most well-known map projections. It was originally designed for navigation purposes, despite this meaning that many countries featured on the map are distorted in shape and size. A map posted on Reddit, however, shows countries true to their shape and size.
One user commented: “So Brazil is actually enormous.”
Another user added: “It’s always mind-blowing to see how distorted the Mercator projection really is. For example, Greenland looks almost the same size as Africa on that map, but in reality, Africa is about 14 times bigger! Australia and South America also look way larger than they actually are compared to other continents.
“The Mercator projection was useful for navigation back in the day, but it really warped how we view the world. It’s crazy to think that so many of us grew up with such a skewed sense of geography!”
The reason the Mercator projection is distorted is because it maps the globe onto a cylinder. Areas near the poles are greatly exaggerated in size compared to areas near the equator. Mercator projection stretches the map vertically to maintain straight longitude and latitude lines, and this alters the size and shape of countries.
One country — Greenland — appears evidently bigger on the map posted compared to Mercator projection maps. In recent days Trump has made it apparent that he wishes to take control of Greenland, a largely autonomous territory of Denmark in the Arctic and the world’s largest island.
Whilst he first indicated his intention to buy Greenland in 2019, in the past few days he has gone further, refusing to rule out economic or military force to take control of the island.
The map showing the real sizes of countries across the world provides an insight into how large Greenland really is, and the potential reason why Trump may want to take control over it. Other countries have responded negatively to his ambition, saying that Greenland is not for sale and that its territorial integrity must be preserved.
Around 80 per cent of Greenland is covered with ice, however, it also has considerable untapped mineral wealth. The population is only 56,000 and it has been under Danish control for 300 years.
The country also has strategic benefits for America including Greenland its location between North America and Europe in the Arctic. In addition, the US already operates Thule Air Base in Greenland, which is a critical component of America’s missile warning system and military presence in the Arctic.
One user on Reddit highlighted Donald Trump’s ambition, stating: “I heard there is a presidential candidate who sees that Greenland bigness … and says .. can we buy that for ‘Merica?!” In a matter of days, on January 20, Donald Trump will become the president of the US, but as for his plans to take control of Greenland, only time will tell.
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