The World's Most Famous Map Projection Myth
On traditional Mercator school wall maps, Greenland and the continent of Africa appear almost identical in size. Generations of students and map readers grew up assuming that Greenland is a massive, continent-sized landmass comparable to Africa.
In reality, Africa is more than 14 times larger than Greenland.
| Geographic Entity | Classification | Surface Area (km²) | Surface Area (mi²) | Relative Proportion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌍 Africa | Continent | 30,370,000 km² | 11,728,000 mi² | 1,402% (14.0× larger) |
| 🇬🇱 Greenland | Autonomous Territory / Island | 2,166,086 km² | 836,330 mi² | 7.1% of Africa |
Why Did Mercator Distort Greenland So Dramatically?
Gerardus Mercator published his map projection in 1569 specifically for oceanic navigation. To make straight lines represent lines of constant compass heading (rhumb lines), the projection stretches lines of latitude farther and farther apart as you move toward the poles. Because Greenland sits between 60°N and 83°N latitude, its area is exaggerated by roughly 1,400%!
The Equal Earth projection eliminates this severe bias by strictly preserving relative land area everywhere on the globe.