30 Countries Compared To The United States With A Real Scale Perspective (2024)

Other

Maps are deceiving. You see, the surface of a sphere cannot be represented as a plane without some form of distortion. Since the 1500s, scientists have been developing algorithms that would help transform the globe into something flat and to do this, they use a method called map projection. There is no right or wrong way to do it, and everything depends on the purpose of the map. But while every type of map preserves one thing, it messes up the other. Area, shape, direction, bearing, distance, and scale of the landmasses are the main properties map makers are constantly juggling. Most people usually look at the Mercator projection.

The Mercator map is widely used for navigation because of its ability to represent lines of constant course. A line drawn between two points on this map would provide the exact angle to follow on a compass to travel between these two points. It also preserves the shape of countries. However, it's less practical for world maps because the scale is distorted. And that's where the Internet comes into play. Imgurian and map lover Mkyner has compiled a series of overlapping maps showing countries from all over the world on top of the United States to give everyone a better understanding of just how huge it actually is.

Most popular maps are created using cylindrical projection. Imagine putting a cylinder over a globe and projecting each of the points of the sphere onto the cylindrical surface. Then, if you unroll the cylinder, you end up with a flat rectangular map.

Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator created the Mercator projection in 1569. Gerardus preserved the direction of his map by varying the distances between the latitude lines and making them straight. However, as with every map, there are drawbacks. For example, on the Mercator map, Greenland and Africa look about the same size. But the actual size comparison to Africa shows that Greenland is smaller. 14 times smaller, to be precise.

But mapping services like Google Maps still use the Mercator. Again, because of its ability to preserve shape and angles. Close-up views of cities and roads are more accurate. A 90-degree right turn on the map is a 90-degree right turn on the street that you're driving on. And when you're close-up, the distortion is minimal. If you want, however, a map that shows the true size of things, fire up one that's created with a Gall–Peters projection.

"I've liked maps for as long as I can remember," Mkyner told Bored Panda. "I enjoy exploring distant places on Google Earth, I think it's important to have an understanding of the countries we hear about in the news, and I love sharing this interest with others (as I think many people do with their hobbies/passions)."

"I was looking up maps of South Africa yesterday (19 May 2019) when I came across the first comparison map. That quickly led to the CIA World Fact Book (a US government source). I was trying to procrastinate on some chores, so compiling those maps into a post seemed like a perfect idea."

"Note, I did not include every country in this USA size comparison post," they added. "I skipped Canada and Mexico, since they were on a lot of the maps anyway, and some of the smaller/more obscure countries (think Togo and Kyrgyzstan)."

Load More Comments

Load More Comments