Maps as Political Tools

Map-making has always been political. Countries put themselves in the center. Empires made their territories look larger. Even today, which projection a country uses in schools subtly communicates which parts of the world matter most. North-up orientation is a convention, not a rule — there is no scientific reason why north should be at the top.

The size distortion in the Mercator projection is a side effect of the math, not a deliberate plot. But because the map dominates classrooms and media, the distortion still shapes how we picture the world. People consistently overestimate the size of European countries and underestimate Africa and South America.