# Is Canada's map the world's most difficult to draw? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965 "2016-05-29T06:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/1 "2016-05-29T06:39:05Z")
As I look at the world atlas (I love maps, could look at maps for a long time), I cannot think of a country that is more difficult to draw a map of, by hand, by memory, than Canada. All of those islands in the north. Can anyone think of a more difficult country to hand-draw an accurate map of? Indonesia and the Philippines’ maps must be hard, too. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/2 "2016-05-29T08:46:44Z")
Russia’s quite hard too. If you look at [Canada’s outline](http://exchangedownloads.smarttech.com/public/content/d9/d93a9f81-4882-43bb-9c90-0d030ea9f89d/previews/medium/0001.png), whilst the north of the country is quite hard, the south is really easy. [Russia](http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/outline/ruout.gif) would be quite difficult to get _right_ in a freehand sketch, but apparently if you just draw a sort of pregant Pete’s Dragon on his side you won’t be far wrong for an impression. The island groups are going to be the hardest, though. As you say, [Indonesia](http://0.tqn.com/d/geography/1/S/m/J/indonesia.jpg) is quite fiddly. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/3 "2016-05-29T15:02:50Z")
Indonesia has more than 13,000 islands. That’s gotta beat Canada in terms of difficulty in drawing it by hand. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/4 "2016-05-29T17:50:34Z")
I would just like to see Senator Franken try his [map-drawing skills](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-FYyuvrRk) with his neighbour to the north. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/5 "2016-05-29T18:08:59Z")
I think it depends on the scale at which it is to be drawn. If it’s being drawn to fill a sheet of A4 paper, Norway might be harder than Indonesia, because you would have to include all the fjords. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/6 "2016-05-29T18:40:03Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think it depends on the scale at which it is to be drawn. If it’s being drawn to fill a sheet of A4 paper, Norway might be harder than Indonesia, because you would have to include all the fjords. Naww, you just draw a way coastline and write “Slartibartfast” on it. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/7 "2016-05-29T19:11:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I would just like to see Senator Franken try his [map-drawing skills](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-FYyuvrRk) with his neighbour to the north. 🙂 I can do 1/13 of the Canadian version no problem, provided I start at home! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/8 "2016-05-29T20:50:37Z")
Even the jiggly bits with Manitoba? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/9 "2016-05-29T20:54:42Z")
I don’t hold with getting jiggly with Manitoba. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/10 "2016-05-30T02:01:47Z")
Manitobans have jiggly bits? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/11 "2016-05-30T03:02:05Z")
Malaysia? Indonesia? The Solomons? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/12 "2016-05-30T03:44:03Z")
I could do what Al Franken does when I was in 5th grade. I could do Canada, but my arctic islands would be sort of approximate. If you learn the three or four biggest islands up there, that would be close enough. I once amazed some travelers in a hostel by drawing a pretty decent map of Africa, which I had never even tried before. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/13 "2016-05-30T03:56:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Malaysia? Indonesia? The Solomons? Malaysia is for the most part just two large pieces of land; the peninsula on the west and then the other half of east Malaysia. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/14 "2016-05-30T04:47:09Z")
Greece would be a challenge. Indonesia’s 13,000 islands probably wins, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/15 "2016-05-30T04:51:26Z")
I would just draw a blob with a mostly-straight southern border, a mostly-straight Alaska border, Hudson Bay, and some random blobby islands above all of it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/16 "2016-05-30T13:39:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Manitobans have jiggly bits? Only in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canadas-map-the-worlds-most-difficult-to-draw/755965/17 "2016-05-31T00:43:40Z")
For a map of Canada, spread the left hand and trace it. The wrist joint indicates the 49th parallel. NB: IANAGeographer; not recommended as a guide for navigation.