This map (and the short video that goes with it) compares two versions of the world so you can see the difference between the map most people know and the real sizes of countries.The two versions
This is the real size of every country.
— Global Index (@TheGlobal_Index) August 16, 2026
Mercator projection vs reality.
Key Distortions on the Mercator Map:
🇬🇱 Greenland appears 73.9% larger than its real size
🇷🇺 Russia (northern parts) appears 53% larger than reality
🇨🇦 Canada (northern regions) appears 47% larger than… pic.twitter.com/EkzZEiuqk4
- Mercator version – the familiar flat world map used in schools, atlases, and many online maps.
- True-size version – the same countries shown at their actual relative areas (as if you could take them off the globe without stretching them).
When the video switches between the two, countries in the far north shrink dramatically while countries near the equator stay almost the same size.Why the normal map looks wrongThe Earth is a sphere. To turn a sphere into a flat rectangle, the Mercator projection stretches everything more and more as you move away from the equator toward the poles. That stretching makes northern places look much larger than they really are.That’s why, on the everyday map:
- Greenland looks huge (nearly the size of Africa), but in reality Africa is about 14 times bigger.
- Northern Russia, northern Canada, and parts of Europe appear far larger than their true size.
- Countries closer to the equator (most of Africa, Brazil, India, etc.) are shown much more accurately.
The percentages listed with the map simply measure how much each country is inflated on the Mercator version compared with its real area.In short, the map is a visual demonstration that the common world map is good for navigation and shapes, but it significantly exaggerates the size of places near the poles.