Where does this come from, and can I check it?

On this map Greenland looks as large as Africa, though Africa is about fourteen times bigger. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a world geography fact?

Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The Mercator projection inflates the poles enormously

On this map Greenland looks as large as Africa, though Africa is about fourteen times bigger Gerardus Mercator designed the projection in 1569 to keep compass bearings as straight lines, which made it invaluable for navigation at sea. To achieve that, it stretches the map increasingly towards the poles. The distortion makes high latitudes look far larger than they are, which has shaped how generations see the world. It sits in Mondo's world geography collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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World Geography trivia Science trivia

More facts like this

Every flat map distorts area, shape or distanceA sphere cannot be flattened without stretching something, so mapmakers choose which error to accept The Peters projection trades shape for accurate areaIt keeps relative sizes honest but makes continents long and thin, and it is widely criticised Map scale is a ratio, not a rulerA scale of 1 to 50,000 means one centimetre on paper covers half a kilometre on the ground Contour lines join points of equal heightWhere the lines crowd together the ground is steep, and where they spread out it is gentle There are three different kinds of northTrue north, magnetic north and grid north point in different directions depending on where you stand Mercator's projection stretched the globe to help navigatorsThe 1569 map kept compass bearings straight at the cost of exaggerated poles

Tags: maps, projections, cartography

The Mercator projection inflates the poles enormously: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: On this map Greenland looks as large as Africa, though Africa is about fourteen times bigger. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a world geography fact?: Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.