When you picture the map of the world, what is on top? What is in the middle? What if I told you that this is different depending on where you live? And what if I also told you that most maps are not geographically accurately, but they rather politically biased?

Asia-Australia Centered Map of the World

I spent two years living in Shanghai. The world map I bought there had China in the middle. It would be easy for me to say that this makes zero sense, because it makes most major continents smushed and hard to see. But if you’re living in China, you’re most likely looking at South East Asia anyway, so it makes perfect sense to them. This map of the world format also makes sense for Australians.

Since the world is round, there is no correct way to display the continents. There are maps that exist that center the USA and, of course, the more typical Europe-centered map. Personally, the map of the world with Europe in the middle makes most sense to me. Not just because I’m European! At first glance, it seems to be the one the that makes most sense because no continents are split up or misshapen – turns out that this is not at all true.

AuthaGraph – The World’s Most Accurate Map

Have you noticed how on some typical maps with Europe in the center, Greenland looks like it would take up half of the African continent? This is completely inaccurate. In fact, the entire southern hemisphere is shrunk on these maps! This one is said to be THE most accurate in the world.

It’s not difficult to see why the map above can’t be used by everything in the world. It simply isn’t practical for anyone who isn’t a fish living in the Pacific Ocean. But this is the most accurate way to turn a 3D object (planet Earth) and display it two-dimensionally without politics in mind. As you can see, Africa is bigger than most continents and Europe needs a magnifying glass for closer examination. You can read more about the AuthaGraph map of the world here.

Upside Down World Map

Now that you are more open minded about maps, let’s talk about the north being in the south. Because who decided that north should be on top? Again, picture our planet spinning in space. Up and down doesn’t actually matter. North may as well be at the bottom of the map. Anyway, this is an upside down map of the world and I happen to have one hanging in my home.

“Why do maps always show the north as up? For those who don’t just take it for granted, the common answer is that Europeans made the maps and they wanted to be on top. But there’s really no good reason for the north to claim top-notch cartographic real estate over any other bearing, as an examination of old maps from different places and periods can confirm.”

Aljazeera

US-Centered World Map

Although I have lived in the USA for almost two years now, I have to admit that I have never seen a US-centered map. A little bit of Googling took me to Quora and apparently these maps do exist! Turns out that some schools here used to use this map in classrooms. I agree with the lady below because it really doesn’t make sense to split a map in between a continent! But I do understand why a country wants to place themselves in the middle at the same time, so I can’t hate on it too much.

Summary

Creating a flattened image of the world is hard. Globes are 100% the way to go if you want want an accurate representation of what our planet really looks like. Next time you look at any map, take it with a grain of salt. What you are looking at is likely not accurate and is all about politics. But that doesn’t mean that you should go around burning all maps that aren’t the AuthaGraph. The purpose of a map is to help us navigate the world.

The definition of “map” is:

“A map is a symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually drawn on a flat surface. Maps present information about the world in a simple, visual way.”

National Geographic

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