Articles & Cartographic Insights
Discover the secrets of map projections, explore geographical history, and see how mathematics shapes our daily view of the world.
Why all maps of the world lie
Find out why a 3D sphere cannot be perfectly projected onto a flat map. An explanation of Gauss's theorem and Mercator's distortions.
How Giant is Africa? The shrunken continent
The African continent is so massive that the entire USA, China, India, Japan, and most of Europe would fit inside its actual boundaries simultaneously. Test this anomaly.
The Greenland Illusion: Why the icy island is not a continent
On the Mercator projection, Greenland appears the size of Africa. In reality, it is 14 times smaller than Africa and 1.5 times smaller than India. See for yourself.
The Projection War: Mercator vs Gall-Peters and the search for fairness
The political and educational debate surrounding map projections. Why do Gall-Peters advocates accuse Mercator of Eurocentrism, and how does it affect schools?
The Equal Earth Projection: A modern answer to map distortion
The story behind the creation of the Equal Earth projection in 2018. See how cartographers designed a modern, equal-area, and visually pleasing world map.
Why Airlines Fly in Arcs? Great circle vs rhumb line
Explaining why flights from Europe to the USA travel in arcs near the Arctic Circle. Discover geodesics and the shortest paths on a globe.
10 Giant Countries that are actually much smaller
A list of 10 nations at high latitudes that look significantly larger on flat maps than their actual land area would dictate.
The Orange Peel Dilemma: Why flat maps are always a compromise
A simple, intuitive explanation of Gauss's theorem. Why you cannot flatten a 3D sphere without tearing it, and what it means for global mapping.
Exotic Projections: Peirce, Berghaus and beyond
Explore unusual cartographic projections: Peirce Quincuncial (star map), August Epicycloidal, or Orthographic Globe. Flattening the world differently.
Should Google Maps Use a 3D Globe? Evolution of web maps
How web maps evolved from a flat Web Mercator view to interactive 3D globes on smartphones, and why it is critical for geodesy.
Great circle vs rhumb line — why the shortest route looks longer
The great circle is the shortest path on the globe; the rhumb line keeps a constant bearing. On the Mercator map their roles swap. We explain why planes fly along a curve and how to test it.