A brilliant way to show how the flat world map fools us. Drag any country across the map and it resizes to reveal its real area — move Greenland down towards the equator and watch it shrink. A hands-on way to teach the Mercator projection, scale and how we picture the world.
What does the True Size map show?
It shows how the flat Mercator map distorts area. Drag a country across the map and it resizes to reveal its true size compared with where it lands.
Why does Greenland look so big on maps?
The Mercator projection stretches land near the poles, so Greenland looks huge — drag it down towards the equator and it shrinks to its real size.
How do I use it?
Pick up a country and slide it anywhere on the world map; it rescales live so you can compare real sizes on the whiteboard.
Is it free?
Yes — it is completely free to use.
What is it good for?
Teaching map projections, scale and geography, and sparking discussion about how we picture the world.
More geography for the whiteboard: View from Space and Earth Explorer.