20 brilliant maps which will change the way you see the world

As you know, we love a good map. We also love terrible maps.

But what we really like about the following maps is how they change our perceptions of global geography which have been instilled into us via the standard ‘Mercator Projection’ with which we’re all familiar…

Over on Twitter, Tomas Pueyo has shared a collection of maps which will help you see the world in new ways.

1.

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) pic.twitter.com/BDj0BmVesx

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

2.

Flattening balls distorts them! pic.twitter.com/bhB9IGzVaL

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

3.

So we develop a poor intuition for comparative country sizes.

The biggest loser is Africa, which is humongous: pic.twitter.com/xEtzvDhJNt

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

4.

Here it is, comparing the most disadvantaged with the most advantaged. Africa is *wider than Russia*!
Source: https://t.co/kkFTcnLSBm pic.twitter.com/z2tpRW30rA

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

5.

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 pic.twitter.com/ox7BgaLWPz

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

6.

It's 50% wider than the distance between Brazil and Africa pic.twitter.com/sohO6iC7X4

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

7.

Here's another example: Papua New Guinea is as long as the distance from London to Moscow pic.twitter.com/nMXCxHi07i

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

8.

Here's Argentina fitting a bunch of European countries: pic.twitter.com/dodbF7J4HV

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

9.

Somalia is similar in size as the US East Coast pic.twitter.com/DJbINNdrLG

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023

10.

Here's another from @neilrkaye comparing Mexico with Greenland pic.twitter.com/P6F9SDnX6f

— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) April 14, 2023