Many documentaries seem to agree that the world map we currently use is far from accurate, and it’s misrepresenting the size (and even shape) of many continents, islands and countries. It’s using an outdated projection technique called ” Mercator projection ” that was mainly used for sailing back in the 16th century. Why aren’t we using a map that’s more up to date? Can maps like “thetruesize” website be relied upon?
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We use a lot of different maps for a lot of different reasons. Making a flat map is always a case of balancing different kinds of distortion against each other. The Mercator projection distorts size, but it preserves direction which is useful for navigation. Other projections have different priorities, for example preserving relative size, shape, orientation, and direction.
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