Why do world maps always show the Americas on the west and Asia on the east?

Question

If the world is round can we make any point of the world the center in maps? Or is there a specific reason all the world maps show the continents in the same orientation?

In: 6

Answer 1

Any point can be the center of the map. You can have the North or South Pole up too. What is common is what is common depends on the culture.

Most of the possible centers have the problem that you cut a continent in half so maps that have the edge in the Pacific or Atlantic result in the least amount of cut land, this makes two alternatives the most common for maps.

Mapping the world is the result of European country’s exploration. From a European perspective, it makes sense to have your own continent on top and the cut in the Pacific.

But if you look at maps from other cultures a cut in the Atlantic is more reasonable to them and you get maps like [this](https://live.staticflickr.com/4054/5129465738_4ba2c46965_b.jpg) from China where it is in the center.

There are maps with the Americas in the center too, [like this map](https://www.reddit.com/r/Maps/comments/7herhg/why_is_the_usa_in_the_center_of_this_map_and_why/) they are less common because the cut is on land

There are fewer maps with the south up, only 10% of Earth’s population lives in the southern hemisphere and most are close to the equator. A map like [this](https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/41561a7c2082009d18f5192471fbc150?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=676&cropW=1016&xPos=0&yPos=26&width=862&height=575) is as valid as anyone any other map. If it was native Australians who started maps making and exploring the world this might be the standard

There is may map projection wah is selected depending on the usage, You can have the center at any point on earth. Here is a map with the [center is Wellington, New Zealand](https://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/maps/great_circle/capital_cities/wellington_new_zealand_great_circle_map.php)

It is as valid as any other map. It is terrible for navigation in Europe because it is very stretched out. What it is good for is measuring distance and baring from Wellington. The distance or the map from the center is the distance on the earth’s surface from that point. This is a map for amateur radio operators where distance and bearing from the center are easy to measure. You do need a different map for each location on earth.