Few people think about the real size of the countries of the world. What for? After all, just look at the world map - and you can estimate the size of countries in relation to each other. But everything is not the way people are used to thinking. The actual size of the countries is different from what we see on the maps. This is not a worldwide conspiracy, but only a distortion when trying to transfer the shape of a ball to a plane. Unlike modern educational institutions, all the principles and consequences of such effects were explained in Soviet schools.
In fact, the real sizes of countries and continents are still different from what we see. Looking at the map, one can justifiably assume that Russia is larger than the whole continent - Africa. Everything is a bit wrong. Continent Africa occupies about 30 million km 2 , while Russia - only 17 million.
Cause of error
Why is this happening? There is no misinformation and no one is trying to deceive someone, it is only a projection. What it is? The basic principle of this effect is the cylindrical projection of the Mercator. The fact is that the scale in the case of its use on the map changes, in the direction of reduction in the direction from the poles to the equator. This is what misleads people. Simply put, the real real scale of countries and continents will only be at the equator. But those areas of land that are closer to the poles will receive the greatest distortions.
Projection reality
Of course, the method reflected in most maps has big flaws, but it is the most accurate available. There are several methods for reflecting the projection of a map of the world, for example, the one that Wagner invented. Its essence is that the earth can be reflected on a large oval with sharp angles at the top and bottom. There is also a Hood projection, but its appearance is more difficult to explain, it is presented below.
Unusual size facts
As already mentioned, the farther from the equator, the larger the territory, the greater the distortion. As a striking example, you can use the well-known island of Greenland. If you take its contours and move it around the map, decreasing and increasing, taking into account the change in scale, then all the errors will be dispelled. If you look in a traditional atlas, you get the impression that the island is the size of South America. When moving the projection is visible, but Greenland is nine times smaller than this continent.
If you approach from the other side, namely, take a country close to the equator, for example China, and visually compare its contours taking into account the change in scale, then the real size of the country in comparison with the map when moving directly to the center of the “globe” of this state does not much change, like the United States. That's the whole logic of moving projections.
Russia on the map
Of course, citizens of the largest country in the world will be interested to know what its size really is. Despite all the changes and distortions, Russia was and remains the largest state in the world, its area is 17 125 191 km 2 . But Canada takes the second place, but it is also half as much. But even despite this, due to the remoteness from the equator, the real size of the country will still be perceived incorrectly.
Everything is relative
If you compare absolutely all countries with each other, you can learn a lot of new things and calculate some interesting facts. Here are the most interesting of them:
- The largest country in the world is almost half the size of the continent of Africa.
- When moving further from the equator, Australia will not only change its shape, but also visually cover all European countries and part of the coastal waters.
- Antarctica is actually about 3 times larger than the United States, but also half that of Africa.
- If you compare India and Russia, the difference will not be very big, but still tangible.
- Only five large African countries will be required to cover almost the entire area of Russia, namely Algeria, Sudan, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad.
What are the largest countries in the world
If you set all countries at the latitude of the equator, then comparing them will be quite simple. The first place, of course, will be taken by Russia - it is the largest, but the distribution of the population over its territory is not very practical. The second most square meter will be Canada, but China is on its heels. Many people know that the United States is one of the largest countries, it is in the top five and is the penultimate.
But few people are aware of the fact that Brazil, too, can compete for the title of a giant country. Among the states that can be called the largest, they also rank Australia, but it is also the mainland.
It is possible to enumerate and compare endlessly, it is easier to take and check independently interesting aspects. In the global network at the moment there is not even one service that allows you to do this. You can find many facts about our planet, which will be not just unusual, they will completely turn the world outlook of a modern person, living a standard education and stereotypes. You should not limit yourself, you need to develop comprehensively and then the world will sparkle with new colors, it will become more interesting.