Question

In a mercator map, which country appears larger than another country even though the latter is way bigger than the former in real life?

1) Russia and China
2) India and Australia
3) Canada and Brazil
4) United States and Mexico

Answer 1

The correct option is 3) Canada and Brazil

Canada appears larger than Brazil on a Mercator map due to latitude-based distortions, despite Brazil being larger in reality. The True Size tool can help visualize actual country sizes.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a Mercator map, Canada appears larger than Brazil even though Brazil is significantly larger in reality. The Mercator projection is known to distort the size of landmasses as the latitude increases, making regions closer to the poles appear disproportionately large compared to those near the equator. This distortion explains why Canada, which is closer to the North Pole, seems larger than Brazil on most Mercator-projected maps.

When comparing true landmass sizes, tools like The True Size can be used to visualize how the actual sizes of countries compare when not distorted by the latitude-based enlargement that occurs in the Mercator projection. This helps in understanding the real-world proportions and avoids misconceptions about the geographical sizes of countries and continents.