The world's most-used map makes Greenland look the same size as Africa

On the Mercator projection that dominates classroom walls and web maps, Greenland appears roughly as large as Africa. In reality Africa is about 14 times bigger — the 1569 projection preserves compass bearings for sailors by stretching land more and more the farther it sits from the equator.

— Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps — University of Chicago Press, 1991
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