True country sizes on a world map
A world map is not the world.
Move countries across the map, overlay their outlines, and change the projection. See how latitude deceives the eye—and recover the planet's true proportions.
No sign-in. The full map works instantly.
What if Earth were one year old?
Scroll through the planet's history from January 1 to December's final moment. Find dinosaurs, ice ages, humans and inventions on one scale.
Explore Earth's yearDon't just read about maps. Test them.
Four ways into the same world: free movement, 1:1 comparison, globe routes, and an intuition test.
True-size map
Move countries between latitudes and watch the scale illusion disappear.
Compare outlines
Two countries. One scale. No illusions.
Draw the shortest route
Great circle versus constant bearing.
Test your intuition
Which is larger: Sweden or Madagascar?
Greenland looks like Africa. Africa is 14× larger.
Mercator stretches north and south to preserve local angles. That is excellent for navigation, but terrible for our intuition about area.
It is not a map error. It is a map trade-off.
A sphere cannot be flattened without stretching, compressing, or cutting. Every projection chooses a different price—which is why switching between them matters.
The world has more than one center
See Australia at the center of Equal Earth. Then choose a country and discover a different map of the same planet.
Change the world's center ↗Every projection tells a different truth.
Mercator
Conformal
Equal Earth
Equal-area
Globe
Neither equal-area nor conformal
One surprising fact can redraw the map in your head.
10 questions. One attempt. The same globe for everyone.
Build a streak and see whether your geographic intuition improves.
One attempt, the same set for everyone
Size illusion · Build a streak and come back tomorrow for another map.
Flat Earth? Test the model on the map
Interactive analysis
The Greenland Illusion: Why the icy island is not a continent
8 min read
Why Airlines Fly in Arcs? Great circle vs rhumb line
8 min read
A world map centered on Australia
5 min read
The largest countries, without the map illusion.
Land area stays the same no matter where you move the outline.
Open the country atlas ↗Move Greenland to the equator.
One drag is enough to make sure you never look at a map the same way again.