Maps can lie.
Yes reader, the title speaks truth. “Accurate maps” can lie too. And “official maps”. The whole lot of them lie. Or rather, they have secrets. This seems paradoxical to the purpose of maps, which is to “show the features of an area”. But this contradiction exists only if you are ill-advised in map lore.
When used right, all maps hold treasures. A new experience. New fact. New secret. Maps are libraries spread out on a sheet. But just as ruddy MS Excel won’t give away what you want unless you can navigate its (rather annoying) ways, maps are mere pictures until you learn their language. In this essay, I will show you an example.
This below is the map of the world we have all seen. It shapes our worldview. It tells us what country or continent is where. What ocean is where. Where penguins live (see, there’s the treasure). How big the countries and continents are. How much bigger is one country than another.
Except it doesn’t. This map lies to you about what region is huge and what tiny. Let me demonstrate to you how much it can deceive.
Ratio Quiz
I’m going to ask you to compare the sizes (areas) of two countries/regions (from the map above) and give me an approximate number for the ratio. Just throw in a number. Feel free to stare at the map as long as you like.
Yes, reader. You were deceived that much. Your feelings of incredulity may be climaxed with this gif.
(Credit: Jakub Nowosad)
You must have a feel by now, of how bad an idea it is to compare sizes with this kind of map. Now, you might wonder, does it really matter? Yes! Countries near the equator could be considered less important because of this projection. We all have a tendency to equate size with value. I ask you, is an elephant life more valuable than an ant life?
While you ponder that question, have a look at just how huge Africa is.
Your next question would be, why use this map at all? If it is that skewed, don’t we have better options?
To give you a complete answer, I must go back to the question of why maps lie at all. It is because maps are flat, and the earth isn’t. That is, maps are two-dimensional, and the earth is three-dimensional. Globes can give a (relatively) more accurate perception of the planet. When they are “projected” onto a flat surface, however, information is lost. Just as a photograph-you is always different from reality-you, even minus the filters. He he.
But maps are convenient, so they exist. Every map must hide some information or it won’t be flat (like your tummy, ha ha). What information it hides, depends on how it is “projected”. Like the different faces you project to different people, fake or otherwise.
A map projection is how the information from a 3-D globe is translated onto a flat surface, that is, a map. There are different ways of doing this. And each “projection” saves some information whilst compromising on some. The map must decide between aspects like area, scale, distance, and direction. The decision generally comes from what the map will be used for.
In 1569, Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator created a way of charting maps that would be a revolution for navigators. If they were to follow a straight line on the map, the compass bearing (angle) would remain the same. Mercator mercifully saved them many calculations, and provided a simple way of charting their course from point A to B.
Not surprisingly, the Mercator projection became the most commonly used, since maps in those days were mainly drawn for navigational purposes. But. As you saw for yourself (in the first map and the ratio quiz), it distorts areas maniacally, and worse the closer you get to the poles. That is, higher the latitude, more the region is magnified with respect to its actual size. This uneven distortion gives us a skewed perception of world geography.
This projection is being used less and less now. But it keeps cropping up. So if you do see one, never forget this gif.
(Credit: Jakub Nowosad)
Yes, I put it twice on the same post. It’s that important.
You have now become sufficiently warned about map secrets. Go forth and seek your treasure!
PS: Penguins have less big of a continent to themselves than our maps show. Please don’t let it melt.
A fun way to keep playing at this: thetruesize.com
Map projections have been beautifully explained here: gisgeography.com
Here’s another post with thoughts on maps and globes: Friends are maps
