You’ve seen it. Everyone has. You open a standard world map showing Greenland and it looks like this massive, icy behemoth—an island so large it rivals the entire continent of Africa. It sits up there at the top of the grid, looking imposing and vast. But here is the thing: it’s a total lie. Not a malicious one, sure, but a lie nonetheless.
Geography is weird.
If you actually took Greenland and dragged it down the map toward the equator, it would shrink. Not physically, of course, but visually. By the time you got it over Africa, you’d realize that Greenland is actually tiny by comparison. You could fit Greenland into Africa about fourteen times. Fourteen! Yet, on the maps we use in schools and offices, they look nearly the same size. This isn't just a fun trivia fact; it’s a byproduct of a 500-year-old math problem that we still haven't really solved.
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The Mercator Problem and Why It Won't Die
In 1569, a guy named Gerardus Mercator created a map for sailors. It was brilliant for its time. If you’re a navigator in the 16th century, you need a map where you can draw a straight line between two points and actually get there. The Mercator projection preserves angles and shapes, which is a literal lifesaver on the high seas.
But there is a massive trade-off.
To keep those lines straight on a flat piece of paper, Mercator had to stretch the world. The further you get from the equator, the more things get pulled apart. This is why a world map showing Greenland makes the island look like it’s the size of South America. It’s called "map distortion."
Think of it like an orange peel. If you try to flatten an orange peel onto a table, it’s going to tear. To keep it in one solid rectangular piece, you’d have to stretch the top and bottom edges until they were as wide as the middle. That’s exactly what the Mercator projection does. It takes the poles—which are points—and stretches them out into long lines.
Honestly, it’s kinda fascinating that we still use this. We aren't navigating by wooden ships and stars anymore. We have GPS. We have satellites. Yet, the most common world map showing Greenland today—the one used by Google Maps and in most classrooms—is still based on Mercator’s math. Why? Because it keeps the shapes of countries recognizable. If we used a map that showed true size, the northern countries would look squashed and weirdly skinny.
Real Numbers vs. Map Perception
Let’s get into the actual data because the numbers are staggering. Greenland’s actual land area is about 836,300 square miles. That sounds like a lot, right? It is. It’s the largest island in the world.
But Africa is 11.7 million square miles.
When you look at a world map showing Greenland, your brain naturally assumes "big landmass equals big importance." This has led to some pretty intense debates about "cartographic imperialism." Some geographers, like Arno Peters in the 1970s, argued that these maps make the Global North look much more powerful and dominant than the Global South.
The Gall-Peters projection was the response to this. It’s an "equal-area" map. If you look at one, Greenland suddenly looks like a small, narrow sliver, while Africa and South America look like long, dripping candles. It’s much more accurate regarding size, but it makes the shapes look "off" to our eyes. Most people hate it. It’s ugly. But it’s honest.
Other Map Projections to Consider
- The Robinson Projection: This one tries to find a middle ground. It distorts everything just a little bit to make the whole world look "right." It’s what National Geographic used for years.
- The Winkel Tripel: Currently the gold standard for many cartographers. It minimizes three types of distortion: area, direction, and distance.
- The Dymaxion Map: Invented by Buckminster Fuller, it unfolds the world into a 20-sided shape. It’s weird, but there is no "up" or "down," and it shows the continents as nearly one continuous island.
Why Greenland Is the Poster Child for Map Errors
Greenland gets the worst of it because of its latitude. It is so far north that the stretching effect is at its absolute peak. If you look at a world map showing Greenland and Antarctica, you’ll notice Antarctica looks like a never-ending white wall at the bottom. In reality, Antarctica is a continent, but it’s not a flat ribbon that wraps around the Earth.
I remember the first time I saw a "True Size" tool online. You can literally click on Greenland and slide it around the globe. When you move it over the United States, it barely covers the Midwest. When you move it over Australia, it looks like a minor province.
This isn't just about Greenland, though. It’s about how we perceive the world. If our primary visual reference for the planet is a world map showing Greenland as a giant, we subconsciously weight the importance of northern nations differently. It's a psychological bias built into the paper.
The Cultural Impact of the Wrong Map
Maps are power. Throughout history, who drew the map decided who was at the center of the world. Most maps we see are "North-up." But there is no reason for this in space. The Earth doesn't have a "top." You could easily find a world map showing Greenland at the bottom, and it would be just as scientifically valid.
In Greenland itself, this distortion is a bit of a joke. People there know they live on a massive island, but they also know they aren't living on a landmass the size of a continent. The population is only about 56,000 people. Most of the island is covered by a massive ice sheet. If that ice melted, Greenland would actually look more like a donut or a series of smaller islands because the weight of the ice has pushed the center of the land below sea level.
So, not only is the size wrong on your map, but the shape of the land underneath the ice is also a mystery to most people.
How to View the World Accurately
If you really want to see what the world looks like, stop looking at flat maps. Get a globe. A globe is the only way to represent the Earth without distorting the size of Greenland or the shape of Africa.
But globes are bulky. You can’t fold them into a pocket. So we stick with the world map showing Greenland in its oversized glory.
If you're a teacher, a traveler, or just someone who likes being right at dinner parties, you should check out the "AuthaGraph" map. It was created by Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa. It’s probably the most accurate flat map ever made. It divides the globe into 96 triangles and then flattens them. It preserves the proportions of land and water so accurately that you can actually fold it into a 3D globe.
Actionable Ways to Fix Your Mental Map
- Use "The True Size Of" tool: It’s a website where you can drag countries around. Drag Greenland to the equator. It’s a humbling experience for the northern hemisphere.
- Switch your digital map layers: Some advanced mapping software allows you to toggle between projections. Try looking at a "Mollweide" projection.
- Check out a South-Up map: It’ll break your brain for a second, but it’s a great way to realize how much "standard" maps influence your worldview.
- Learn the 14x rule: Just remember that Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland. Whenever you see a world map showing Greenland, run that math in your head.
The Mercator projection isn't going anywhere. It’s too baked into our digital infrastructure. But knowing that the world map showing Greenland is a distortion is half the battle. We live on a sphere, and trying to flatten that sphere will always result in someone getting stretched out of proportion. In this case, Greenland just happened to be the one that got turned into a giant.
Next time you're looking at a wall map, look at the very top. Look at that massive white shape. Remind yourself it’s about the size of Mexico, not the size of a continent. It changes how you see the whole planet.
Next Steps for Map Enthusiasts
To get a better handle on geographical reality, start by comparing the land area of countries you think are "the same size." Compare Brazil to the contiguous United States (Brazil is actually larger). Compare the UK to Japan (Japan is much bigger). Once you start spotting these distortions on a standard world map showing Greenland, you'll never look at a map the same way again. Visit a local museum or university geography department to see a physical globe in person—there's no substitute for the real proportions of a 3D sphere.