Written by Uma Hornish:
When you conjure an image of the world map in your head, it is likely rectangular. For years, children have grown up believing this flat and rectangular illustration of the world is an accurate representation of Earth. The Mercator map, though created with the best intentions, is very distorted. The map does not follow the same scale throughout and as a result, the sizes of various nations are either too large or small. Uma delves more into the Map Projection Bias and its withstanding implications.
A few years ago I came to the shocking realization that the world map I knew so well was wildly inaccurate in many ways. Growing up, I loved geography and would constantly look at different maps. It wasn’t until far later when I learned that the map taught in schools around the U.S., the Mercator projection, is misrepresentative in many ways.
To start, it’s important to explain why we’ve been using an “inaccurate” map for so long. The simple explanation is that it’s physically impossible to take the surface of a sphere and accurately represent it on a flat plane without distorting it in some way. Scientist Carl Frederick Gauss provided this in 1828. Because of this, every flat projection of the earth is in some way flawed.
The Mercator map projection was created in the 1500s by Gerardus Mercator himself. Originally, the map became popular because it mostly preserved the directionality and shape of countries. This was useful to sailors for navigation. The tradeoff that this projection makes is that, for shape and directionality to be preserved, size is widely misrepresented. While Africa and Greenland appear to be almost exactly the same size on the Mercator projection, in reality, Africa is about fourteen times larger. Most people wouldn’t guess that Africa is larger than the U.S, Canada, and China combined, but it is.
What the Mercator projection does is enlarges countries at the polls and shrinks countries near the equator. The website, thetruesizeof.com, is a fascinating resource that allows you to compare the actual sizes of any countries. I recommend that everyone check it out and see what surprises you. Greenland, for example, appears to be the same size as Africa on a Mercator projection, despite that Africa’s landmass is more than 14 times larger.
Beyond simply not being accurate, there’s likely bias in why this map was chosen and what implications this has today. The countries whose sizes are overestimated by this projection are countries in the Western World, especially in Europe. African and South American countries, which are more commonly third world countries, are severely shrunken in proportion to those in Europe and North America. It’s argued that this map perpetuates imperialist ideas that European countries are superior. This notion is further emphasized by the fact that Europe always appears directly in the center of the map. There’s certainly no longer a need for our common map to be what is best for sailors, yet the Mercator map remains standard.
While it may not seem that important, it’s likely that the Mercator map has subconsciously impacted people’s view of the world. I, for one, know that I was shocked to find out the real size comparisons of many countries. Psychologists argue that humans innately equate size with importance. Due to the Mercator projection, the western world continues to believe it’s bigger and better than everyone else, while third world countries are essentially gaslighted into thinking they are smaller than they actually are.
On an episode of the famous television show, the West Wing, members from the “Organization of Cartographers for Social Equality”, come to the White House and explain the bias implicit in the Mercator projection. While one character essentially laughs them out of the room, another is truly stunned by how flawed their perception of the world was. Although this is a fictional show, it is still crazy that this is something people don’t talk about.
The Mercator Projection
A question you might have is that if this projection is wrong, what projection should we use? As mentioned above, there is no perfect answer to this because every projection has to give something up. One alternative projection, which protects the relative size of countries, is the Gall-Peters projection. As a tradeoff, the Gall-Peters projection loses accuracy in the shape of countries. Regardless, it is still shocking to see what this map looks like.
The Gall-Peters Projection
Geographers have attempted for centuries to perfect a world map. Even today, people attempt to use complex computer programs to find the most accurate map possible. The National Geographic Society now uses the Winkel Tripel projection because it balances size and shape accuracy. While no world map (besides a globe) can ever be perfect, it seems important that people see representations beyond just the Mercator projection, which has been accepted as the true image of the world in our society.
The Winkel Tripel Projection
Sources:
https://borgenproject.org/map-bias/
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/world-map-wrong-mercator-peters-projection-boston/
https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2021/7/2/22537588/map-bias-the-world-probably-doesnt-look-like-you-think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIID5FDi2JQhttps://www.thetruesize.com/
