# Are these maps of Africa optical illusions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879 "2012-07-30T18:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/21 "2012-07-30T21:17:14Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Diffeomorphism? Well-played. ---
**Author:** ![DHMO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@DHMO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHMO)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/22 "2012-07-30T21:32:42Z")
Obligatory [xkcd](http://xkcd.com/977/)link. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/23 "2012-07-30T21:37:26Z")
It seems to me, that the blogger meant to put [a Mercator projection like this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercator_projection_SW.jpg) on her/his page, but put the equal area one instead. That would seem to match the premise of the blog, which the images chosen do not. Also, the first comment on the blog says that too. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/24 "2012-07-30T21:42:49Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > :rolleyes:Of course, the explanation must be an -ism Little-known fact: Mercator was an Eskimo, and he wanted to make Greenland look as big as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/25 "2012-07-30T21:49:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m not clear on the point being made either. Africa and S. America are the continents least affected by distortion in most projections, at least relative to the fixed size of the earth. The projection they used squeezes the continent horizonatally a little, but most projections don’t. You’re supposed to look at Greenland and Australia when you want to make points about continent size and map projections. I KNEW those fiendish Greenlanders had been manipulating the art of cartography to fool us all into believing their country was the biggest and therefore most important one! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/26 "2012-07-30T21:55:22Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I KNEW those fiendish Greenlanders had been manipulating the art of cartography to fool us all into believing their country was the biggest and therefore most important one! They are tricky. Look at the way they settled across North America, but only left a few intriguing and unverifable artifacts to show they’d ever been here. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/27 "2012-07-30T22:46:15Z")
> [@DHMO](#): > > Obligatory [xkcd](http://xkcd.com/977/)link. Can someone explain the “I HATE YOU” caption? Is it because promoters of the Gall-Peters map sometimes have an ulterior motive? I like the Gall-Peters projection but this is probably because it’s the first “equal area” map I came across. It’s an interesting perspective. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/28 "2012-07-30T22:47:43Z")
[A nice review of different possible projections](http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/MapProjections/projections.html) with their pros and cons. [This one](http://www.btinternet.com/~se16/js/mapproj.htm) let’s you play with setting different areas to be the center and thus change the distortion effects. Nice discussion there too. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/29 "2012-07-30T23:04:45Z")
I think another thing that the OP’s link cheats at is saying “the US” instead of “North America”. I know that I, as an American, have an over-inflated perception of how big the US is, and I usually perceive the US taking up a much larger portion of North America than it actually does. So by taking just the US (and eliminating Alaska, for some reason - oh, so they can cheat some more), we’re led to believe that our perception of Africa is racist. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/30 "2012-07-30T23:07:49Z")
> [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > It seems to me, that the blogger meant to put [a Mercator projection like this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercator_projection_SW.jpg) on her/his page, but put the equal area one instead. That would seem to match the premise of the blog, which the images chosen do not. > > Also, the first comment on the blog says that too. I think that’s probably what the blogger meant, but I’m still not sure if the OP is saying merely that Africa looks way too small on the Mercator projection, or that even with the equal-area projection, Africa looks smaller than USA + China + India + Europe. All very confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/31 "2012-07-30T23:30:42Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > I don’t just want to echo everything that’s already been said here, but I thought the [view](https://www.google.com/search?q=view+of+africa+from+space&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=uO0WUKS7AdGuqwHG6oDYDw&biw=1025&bih=458&sei=uu0WUKPwGYyBqgHChIGYBQ) of Africa from space was pretty interesting. This website has the third picture in your search (as of Mon 30.JUL.2012 2329 GMT). [https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/preview\_lesson\_nostds.php?&passid=92](https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/preview_lesson_nostds.php?&passid=92) Africa looks large in this picture. Because it is large. It is a continent, after all. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/32 "2012-07-30T23:35:50Z")
So that bottom graphic is actually correct? Wow. I knew the whole gig about the Mercator projection skewing the poles/equator sizes, and I knew Africa was much bigger than it looked on Mercator projection maps. But it’s the size of China, India, USA and nearly the whole of Europe _combined_? Good Lord. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/33 "2012-07-30T23:41:18Z")
Another fact that’s not obvious from the Mercator projection is that the continental US is smaller than Brazil (about 3.3 million square miles for Brazil vs 3.1 million square miles for the contiguous US.) ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/34 "2012-07-30T23:45:02Z")
More people should own (and study) globes. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/35 "2012-07-30T23:49:33Z")
I have a globe and yes, Africa is really that large. Also, Africa is the second largest continent at 11,608,000 square miles. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/36 "2012-07-30T23:56:17Z")
Back when I was first gifted a globe and an atlas (I believe I was about 9 years old), I memorized the land area order of the continents and then the population order. Why? Well, I suppose I was a bit of a geek. By land area, it is Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. By population, it is Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and (of course) Antarctica. ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/37 "2012-07-31T00:22:02Z")
Does it really surprise so many people to realize that Africa is really rather large? Yes, it’s bigger than several large countries. Africa itself is not a country, it’s a whole _continent_. Yes, I’m aware of the supposed political significance of maps widely acknowledged to be grossly inaccurate, but this is like saying that North America’s big because Africa’s second-largest country (whatever the former Zaire is calling itself these days) would fit into it more than ten times. This all seems like a form of political masturbation. Edit: Apparently Sudan went and split while I wasn’t paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/38 "2012-07-31T00:28:13Z")
The numbers for the map are right there. Africa covers 20% of the earth’s land. I’ve used this map fairly often to illustrate Africa’s diversity. I field a lot of questions like “What is it like to drive in Africa” or “What do people eat in Africa” and even (I’m not making this up) “When you were in Peace Corps, did you learn to speak African?” A lot of people don’t grok that Africa is a huge place with 54 countries, 2,000 languages, and a billion people. That image is a quick way to get people past some of their initial assumptions and create some mental space for understanding how complex and diverse Africa is. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/39 "2012-07-31T00:31:30Z")
The Lord must be racist for putting Africa so damn close to the equator. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879/40 "2012-07-31T01:25:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m still not sure if the OP is saying merely that Africa looks way too small on the Mercator projection, or that even with the equal-area projection, Africa looks smaller than USA + China + India + Europe. The latter (though only when I first looked at it). I was never saying anything about the Mercator projection, which was (to me) obviously not involved from the get-go. To me, initially, the map _shown on the blog_ seriously minimised the size of Africa relative to those other places. ETA: There is actually no such thing as an actual equal-area projection, except (as **california jobcase** seems to be obliquely saying) a globe. Polar regions will be distorted on any flat map. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-maps-of-africa-optical-illusions/629879.md?page=3)