Typical world maps badly misrepresent the size of countries; a new web app shows their true scale.
The True Size Of is an interactive app that seeks to improve our skewed sense of global geography by correcting the world map.
The web app allows users to drag a country to another part of the map. The country's size and shape will change until it compares accurately to its new location.
For a little background on why "the world's most ubiquitous map" is so distorted, Liz Stinson at Wired explains:
The Mercator projection is an inherently flawed design. It exaggerates the size of countries closest to the poles while depicting size most faithfully at the equator. Though it was once a handy navigational tool for sailors, the map has instilled in the rest of us a gross misunderstanding of geography and relative country size.
Read the full story: Fascinating App Shows You How Misleading Maps Can Be
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