Many countries and continents on the world maps people have grown up viewing, including India, appear larger or smaller than their actual size. This distortion occurs primarily because the Earth is round, and representing it on a flat map inevitably causes size discrepancies in certain regions.
The Mercator map, the most widely used projection to date, was created in 1569 primarily to help sailors easily determine directions and navigation routes at sea. However, this map significantly exaggerates the size of regions located near the poles, while areas closer to the equator, such as Africa and South America, appear considerably smaller than their true size.
A striking example of this distortion is the comparison between Africa and Greenland. On the Mercator map, both landmasses appear almost equal in size, but in reality, Africa is nearly 14 times larger than Greenland. Similarly, countries like Russia and Canada also appear considerably larger than their actual size on this map.
To correct these disparities, a new map projection called “Equal Earth” was developed in 2018, offering a much clearer and more accurate representation of the true area of countries and continents. On this map, India appears somewhat larger compared to how it looks on conventional maps, and Africa’s depicted size moves closer to its actual proportions.
However, no map can perfectly represent the world without any distortion, since flattening the Earth’s round shape onto a flat surface always results in some trade-off. While the Mercator map remains useful for navigation and determining directions, the Equal Earth map serves as a better tool for understanding the true relative sizes of countries. Experts note that India appearing smaller on a map does not, in reality, mean that the country itself is small.