Thread by @tomaspueyo

Maps twist our perception of the world
Here are 20 to rethink it:

1. Countries closer to the equator (~poorer) seem smaller than they are

(map by @neilrkaye)

Flattening balls distorts them!

So we develop a poor intuition for comparative country sizes.

The biggest loser is Africa, which is humongous:

Here it is, comparing the most disadvantaged with the most advantaged. Africa is *wider than Russia*!
Source: axbom.com/world-map/

Brazil is also very shorthanded
It's so big, the northernmost point of the country is closer to all other American countries (including Canada!) than to the southernmost point in Brazil

It's 50% wider than the distance between Brazil and Africa

Here's another example: Papua New Guinea is as long as the distance from London to Moscow

Here's Argentina fitting a bunch of European countries:

Somalia is similar in size as the US East Coast

Here's another from @neilrkaye comparing Mexico with Greenland

Chile is as long as Europe
(via @AddictMap)

Broadly speaking, Europe, the US, Brazil, Australia, Russia, China, and India are comparable in orders of magnitude

Here's Australia containing the Mediterranean:

And the biggest thing of all is by far the Pacific Ocean
A third of the world

So one thing is how you project a sphere into a map. Another one is where you center it.

What if we centered it around Argentina?

Or New Zealand?

Or China, and we made it vertical?

Poor Antarctica feels lonely:

Conversely, Alaska is one of the best logistics bases for air cargo because it's close to all the northern hemisphere markets:

If you go all in, you can see the world according to fishes. Pretty well connected!

Maybe maps are biased because they fit the international community:
(via @TerribleMaps )

OK that's all for today. I'll add some more in my free newsletter, subscribe to get it:
unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/subscribe

Here's a last one that really surprised me, to give you a taste: the westernmost point in China is closer to Germany than to its easternmost point!

What other maps twist our perceptions?
What maps have surprised you?

Follow me to understand more deeply how the world works today, frequently with a geographic/historic/data/research angle

Here is a thread on India, if you missed it:

Here’s another one on Java
I write a thread like this every week or so