01

Every flat map makes a trade

A curved surface cannot be flattened without distorting at least one of distance, direction, shape or area. A world map chooses which of those to protect. There is no distortion-free flat map of the whole Earth.

02

Why Mercator stretches the north

Gerardus Mercator presented his projection in 1569 for navigation. It preserves local angles, so a constant compass bearing is a straight line. To do that, it stretches places in both directions by the same factor as you move away from the equator. Areas grow with the square of that factor: about 4 times at 60° latitude and about 10 times at 72°, near Greenland’s centre.

03

Equal area, not equal shape

An equal-area projection keeps relative sizes correct. Here we use Equal Earth, published in 2018. Greenland covers about 2.17 million km²; Africa about 30.37 million km², roughly 14 times larger. The price is shape: equal-area maps squash and shear outlines, most visibly towards their edges and the poles.

04

Choose the map for the question

Mercator remains useful for navigation and for zoomed-in street maps, where local shapes matter. To compare the sizes of countries or continents, use an equal-area map. Our outlines are simplified Natural Earth data; Antarctica is left out because Mercator cannot show the poles.

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Sources & further reading

Sources checked 13 November 2026. These organisations provide reference material and do not endorse this website.