The Atlas has put TERRIBLE LIES in our brains so far, and what I am about to tell you in 5 minutes, might Question your knowledge on Geography that you've learnt for more than 10 years. And here it is. 

The earth is a sphere, and it's impossible to turn it into a 2d object. So how are maps made? 

The Engineering Drawing taught in the first year makes sense now. The globe(sphere) is surrounded by a Cylinder which fits perfectly around it (Radius of globe = Radius of the cylinder). 

Cylinder Surrounding the Globe

Now each point on the sphere is projected on the cylinder. When you open up the cylinder, what you end up with is THIS. 

Projection on the Cylinder

This map was first designed by Mercator and hence called the "Mercator Projection Map". So what's wrong with this Map? I would ask you to stop scrolling for a minute and THINK !!!

This problem lies in the projection. Countries closer to the EQUATOR, are projected at almost their original size. But countries far away from the Equator are literally Doubled, Tripled or even 14puled( Sorry, I don't have a name for it). If I ask you to look at the world map and answer the question " What is the biggest island on the Globe", you'd probably say Greenland and not Australia. Greenland looks GIGANTIC. And RUSSIA probably looks bigger than every continent on earth. So what's wrong? 

The Map with LIES

Back to Greenland, If you literally compare the original size of Greenland and Africa, they almost look the same. But in reality, Africa is 14 times bigger than Greenland.  Africa is so huge that it can fit China, United States, India, Australia and can still fit 528 Hyderabad's in it. But on a map, it literally looks smaller than the 12th biggest country in the world. 

Africa is really a huge piece of Land Mass


On the other hand, India is soo huge, that it can literally fit three-fourths of Europe in it. But on a map? It looks like a little piece of land attached to Asia. 

India Projected on Europe

This map has been accepted because, if you draw a line between two places on the map, set the compass in the direction and start moving on your ship, you'll land in the exact position of your destination. 

But there's a DARK Reality attached to the acceptance of this map. If you look closely, most of the powerful nations(Imperialistic times) lie in the north pole of the globe. And your mind subconsciously tells you that, the bigger the nation, the stronger it is. Looks like the US and Russia have gained a lot from this map. Whereas countries like India and Continents like Africa had to stick to their original size and look weaker. 

India Vs Greenland

What I am about to show you now might look disgusting, but is actually true. This is how the map would look like, with countries in their original sizes. 

Countries in their original sizes

But there's something else to take away from this. If you place Antarctica over Australia, It's almost the same size(Remember Australia is almost the size of the USA). So with Global Warming at its peak, it could melt an island as big as Australia, or a country as big as the United States. And once that happens, take it for granted, The Himalayas will be the new place to live. 


To prevent that from happening avoid using plastic wherever possible, because Plastic is digging our graves faster than Shovels. 

Do read this blog on how to miraculously save the planet in ten seconds. https://enchantedstalker.blogspot.com/2019/12/ten-seconds-of-yours-that-can-save.html

I know scrolling down and Commenting might take a bit of your Energy, but if your energy can do something great for the globe, I guess you should consider spending it.
Live and Let Live
References :