Why does Greenland look as big as Africa when it is fourteen times smaller? Because flattening a sphere onto paper is impossible without distortion.
Map Projection DistortionLive
why Greenland looks huge
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You cannot flatten a sphere without distortion. The Mercator projection preserves angles for navigation but inflates area toward the poles by 1/cos²(latitude) — so Greenland appears as big as Africa though it is 14 times smaller. The Tissot circles are all the same true size on the globe; watch them balloon at high latitudes.
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How it works
Every flat map lies somewhere. The Mercator projection preserves compass angles — invaluable for navigation — but stretches area toward the poles by 1/cos²(latitude). The Tissot indicatrices, all identical circles on the globe, balloon dramatically at high latitudes here, revealing exactly how much size is exaggerated far from the equator.
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