Mercator vs Equal Earth

The useful part

Assembly has just endorsed a new position on world maps that aims to represent the relative size of the world's land masses more accurately, with the difference being particularly obvious when you compare Africa and Greenland. The resolution, backed by 164 countries, promotes the use of equal-area projections such as Equal Earth as an alternative to the familiar Mercator projection. Mercator vs Equal Earth Rather than simply putting the two projections side-by-side, this interactive map lets you watch one transform into the other.

How it works

• This isn't because Equal Earth is somehow making Africa bigger.
• On the Mercator projection, the world's high latitudes are dramatically enlarged.
• Greenland is the obvious example: on the map it looks almost comparable in size to Africa.
• As the map morphs into Equal Earth, Greenland shrinks while Africa expands.
• Europe and North America also become noticeably smaller relative to the land masses around the equator.

Details worth keeping

In reality, Africa is around 14 times larger than Greenland. It is Mercator that makes it look disproportionately small i...