Why does India appear smaller on the Mercator map? Here's what causes the distortion
- On the widely used Mercator map, countries near the equator like India appear smaller than they actually are.
- This happens because the 1569 Mercator projection stretches areas near the poles, shrinking those near the equator.
- India appears slightly larger on the newer Equal Earth projection, which the UN has now backed for accuracy.
- Experts say no map is perfect, as each projection trades off accuracy in area, shape, distance, or direction.
Source: ndtv.com
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