More or Less Is Greenland as big as Africa?
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Jan 24, 2026 
Jay Foreman, YouTuber and map expert, explains how familiar flat maps warp our view of the world. He breaks down why the Mercator projection balloons Greenland, compares its real size to Africa and India, and explores alternative map projections. Short, surprising geography explained with clear examples.
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Mercator Distorts Greenland's Size
- The Mercator projection massively stretches high-latitude land, exaggerating Greenland's size and position.
- On a globe Greenland is roughly 1/14th the area of Africa and much closer to nearby countries than flat maps suggest.
Flat Maps Require Hard Trade-Offs
- Projecting a sphere to a rectangle forces trade-offs: you must squash, stretch or slice the globe.
- Greenland's high-latitude location means it gets massively stretched on common flat maps.
Greenland's True Proximity To Neighbors
- Measuring from the North Pole shows Greenland is roughly equidistant from Maine, Denmark and Alaska.
- Flat maps mislead on proximity; Greenland sits central to several northern coasts in reality.
