Given email address is already subscribed, thank you! It is there in number. Animating the Mercator projection to the true size of each country in relation to all the others. At the same time, Sony had tried to replicate Nintendo’s strategy with handheld consoles of their own, the PSP (2004) and PS Vita (2011), and while they sold 80 million units and ~10-15 million units respectively, Sony ultimately abandoned the handheld console market. October 18, 2010 Topic Maps. The story was similar in Africa, as increasing internet traffic data pointed to Facebook dominating the social network landscape across the continent (minus a temporary LinkedIn surge in 2017 for Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Cameroon). By the end of 2018’s fiscal year, the Switch had already outsold the Wii U with 17 million units sold. If you look at the world map on Google, for example, Africa doesn’t look that much bigger compared to China or the United States. Nice gesture to show how big Europe is but ouch, that is glaring oversight. Pingback: Africa, which straddles the Equator, barely changes in size — meanwhile, the countries furthest from the Equator become inflated from their true sizes on this type of map. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall that the land area of the country of Spain approximates that of the state of Oregon in the USA. Alaska isn’t part of the contiguous United States, which is the area represented in this graphic. Read about the true size of Africa … Environment. All of Europe he says but only includes the southern countries and the middle ones, excluding northern Europe (Scandinavia, Iceland, Faroe Islands), Republic of Ireland, the Baltic states and the Russian European bit, the Ukraine, Belarus etc etc. 110 points. While developers previously flocked to create games for the Wii’s motion controls, the Wii U’s tablet controller didn’t attract the same kind of innovative software development. Take a look at any map, and it’s clear that the African continent is a big place. By Inside | Out . Something went wrong. The Eastern Europe countries look to be manually moved together for the graphic: there are gaps in between them, not lines, which tells me they were pieced back together again. This brought about the Nintendo DS (2004), which added a second touch screen for developers to build games around, and the Nintendo Wii (2006), which pioneered motion controls and accessibility with the simpler Wii Remote controller. With the Wii U’s poor performance leaving Nintendo in a tough spot, the next console release was crucial to the success of the company. When I memorised the 52 countries in Africa, the whole continent became more ‘visible’ to me. The Nintendo DS’s touch screen permeated many Nintendo consoles and is still present in the Switch, and looking back at the Wii U’s tablet controller, it now seems like an early prototype for the Switch’s free-form portability. Kai Krause. In area, it spans 11.6 million square miles (30 million square kilometers). But how large really is Africa? China’s most popular social networking website has been Tencent’s Qzone since the mid-2000s. Great Data Visualisation: True Size of Africa « Musings on Interesting Things. It sounds like you’ve looked solely (or at least primarily) at a Mercator projection map. Funny thing is: a lot of people are stating the map is not perfect (to say the least). To see Facebook’s path to domination, we mapped each country’s most popular social network from 2008‒2020. What didn’t hold up well was Nintendo’s home console follow-up to the Wii, the Wii U. Nintendo’s foray into physical toys, which started with Amiibo figures, is also gradually developing and merging physical and digital play thanks to the Switch. Four years ago, I set out to learn about Tanzania for a blog I ran about the School of St Jude in Arusha. Traditional maps have downplayed the size of the continent in comparison to other parts of the world for hundreds of years. The population of Africa numbers 1 billion, while the North American continent is home to 528 million souls. Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. My main cartography complaint is that for something that ostensibly fights “immappancy” caused by map projections, there is no information given on the map projection used here. The map doesn’t include Alaska, which is a significant part of the United States’ land area. So here is the true size of Africa, distortion-free. The True Size Of Africa Map. Kai Krause’s map, “The True Size of Africa.” Africa looks about the same size as Greenland in a Mercator projection, even though it is actually 14 times bigger; Krause’s map illustrates the fact that Africa is three times larger than the USA and larger than the USA, China, India, Japan, and all of Europe – combined! This graphic visualizes the Nintendo Switch sales success story alongside more than 20 years of Nintendo console sales. Visit the best American breweries of 2018, based on RateBeer rankings, while minimizing travel time and distance. Presumably yes, but it would be good to note. Edit: Kai Krause has contacted us to let us know that the previous headline image we used was a … By the beginning of 2020, Facebook was measured as the leading social network site in 151 out of 167 measured countries, or over 90%. In … The physical toys for younger audiences help capture a new generation of Nintendo fans, while older generations of fans will be excited to visit Super Nintendo World and indulge in nostalgia while introducing Nintendo to their children. If you look at the world map on Google, for example, Africa doesn’t look that much bigger compared to China or the United States. Mapped: The True Size of Africa. My first guess is that the list is sorted by “%” and not “AREA”. In a bid to fight “immappancy” and chronic misjudgement of Africa’s true scale, software and computer – graphics guru Kai Krause created a public domain image that illustrates the truth. Half of the population live on the island of Java which is the fairly large island shown in the middle of the map (across Texas and New Mexico). Interestingly, the problem with maps is not that Africa is sized incorrectly. Finally, it’s time to look at the other side: divorce and remarriage. Wikipedia says Spain is about twice the area of Oregon, 504,030 km² to 255,026 km². Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World, Basic Income Experiments Around the World, Animated Map: The Comparative Might of Continents. So here are some charts to help you figure it out. Instead, Iran’s most popular social networks have been Persian sites Cloob and Facenama between 2009‒2016. The author has produced an updated version with the explanation: http://twitpic.com/2xu4ou/full Which Countries are Mapping the Ocean Floor? El Verdadero Tamaño de Africa « La Valija, Pingback: Africa is without a doubt a large continent. The vast majority of us aren’t using paper maps to chart our course across the ocean anymore, so critics of the Mercator projection argue that the continued use of this style of map gives users a warped sense of the true size of countries – particularly in the case of the African continent. Precious Metal Production in the COVID-19 Era. Great way of visualizing the size of Africa. One Billion People and One Stereotype | Thought Clusters, Pingback: Using the animation below, you’ll see that Africa is actually the most accurately sized continent using the common Mercator map projection: The Mercator projection attempts to place the spherical shape of the world onto a cylinder, causing areas closest to the poles to be “stretched”. Animating the Mercator projection to the true size of each country in relation to all the others. I pulled up Google Earth to compare the distances of certain features on each country and found that while the U.S. is sized about right where as Spain is ≈1.26 as long as it should be or ≈1.56 times its proper area. For those of us living in Western countries, this is an interesting dilemma to consider. Online maps that we use for directions use the Mercator projection, and this tends to dictate how we perceive the size of countries and continents. The Game Boy and the SNES (1990) were the first iteration of this strategy, and they reached more than 160 million units sold combined while establishing legendary game franchises with revered sequels like Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The Mercator projection has some real advantages, especially for navigation. That means that 40% of Earth’s population (7.8 billion in December 2020) uses Facebook-owned social media. But how large really is Africa? Did You Know? You could add together all of the landmasses above and they would not equate to the geographical footprint of Africa, which itself is home to 54 countries and 1.2 billion people. The Indonesian land mass superimposed over a map of the continental United States stretches well beyond the US West and East coasts. Take a look at any map, and it’s clear that the African continent is a big place. Take a look at these true size maps that compare the actual, real size of different parts of the world. Can anyone tell what the internal boundaries in the different non-African countries are supposed to represent? I would venture to say that it’s because Alaska is included with the total area value but not with the map overlay. 3 | Side Culture. Visually, this graphic does not portray this. Thank you for an interesting comparison. As the Nintendo Switch’s excellent game library continues to expand, new and old fans alike will be excited to see what consoles, games, and other products come next from the legendary game company. In 2018, the company released Nintendo Labo, a custom cardboard building set which integrates with the Switch and its Joy-Cons for a variety of games and experiences. 2 on both lists: population and size. Another largely invisible continent. And in other places, it still hasn’t quite taken off. In fact, the continent is 14 times larger than the island. 2 on both lists: population and size. Realizing the true size of Africa also helps us appreciate how daunting it may be to solve Africa’s poverty and food challenges. WeChat—a popular all-in-one messaging platform—does not technically qualify for the above map as a “social networking website”, but the app now has more than 1.2 billion MAUs. In area, it spans 11.6 million square miles … [True Size of Africa via Good | Thanks, Cay], Pingback: LAST month Kai Krause, a computer-graphics guru, caused a stir with a map entitled "The True Size of Africa", which showed the outlines of … Yeah, what is going on there? The social giant’s growth, however, didn’t come without resistance. Pingback: If you add in Alaska as Leif suggested, that should make up for the discrepancy. The True Size of Africa A small contribution in the fight against rampant Immappancy, by Kai Krause ITALY GERMANY FRANCE SPAIN EASTERN EUROPE INDIA CHINA UNITED STATES ( with Alaska & Hawaii ) UK JAPAN CHINA PART 2 INDIA PART 2 PORTUGAL BELGIUM … In the USA it is bling-bling, in Africa its bling-BANG! Funny how few people actually read what something is about before they comment. While mobile phones were feared to be a portable console killer, the Nintendo 3DS sold well when it released in 2011 (75.94 million units) and was Nintendo’s saving grace for its generation. http://www.kswmyy.com/alaskamap.htm, Pingback: Google’s Orkut was the most popular network in Brazil and India, and Friendster found a foothold in Southeast Asia. What famously started as Mark Zuckerberg’s late-night intoxicated project called Facemash—a “hot or not” type website for students at Harvard University—soon evolved into the world’s predominant social network. China’s area is between 9,596,961–9,640,011 — a different large enough to switch place with United States. While Nintendo’s development team can prepare for their next console with a bit more financial breathing room thanks to the Switch’s superb sales, the company has been working hard to broaden its audience. The True Size map points out that Mercator projections suggest that Greenland is about half the size of Africa, for example. So here is the true size of Africa, distortion-free. 1 jaar ago 1 jaar ago. The classic example, also used in The West Wing scene, is Greenland: on a Mercator world map, it appears roughly the same size as Africa. On that map Europe is still too big compared to the US. Combating Immapancy, One Map at a Time « Hands Wide Open, Ok, so we all now know where to move into if a big asteroid hits :), Pingback: Facebook had attempted to gain ground in the country but was banned in 2009. Click here for a larger, zoomable version, courtesy of The Economist. Very curious that the same two countries are swapped in both lists in the graphic, but that’s probably because the lists originated from the same source list, so errors would propagate identically. Visualizing the Biggest Tech Mergers and Acquisitions of 2020, Ranked: The Most Valuable Nation Brands in 2020, The Year in Review: 2020 in 20 Visualizations, Animation: Mapping the Recovery from the Global Recession of 2020, 5 Drivers Behind the Sustainable Investing Shift, Switch to Success: 20 Years of Nintendo Console Sales, Mapped: Facebook’s Path to Social Network Domination (2008-2020), A Very COVID Christmas: The Pandemic’s Impact on Festive Spending, Bitcoin is Near All-Time Highs and the Mainstream Doesn’t Care…Yet, Mapped: The Risk of Eviction and Foreclosure in U.S. States, Chart: A Global Look at How People Spend Their Time, Chart: Debt-to-GDP Continues to Rise Around the World, 5 Undeniable Long-Term Trends Shaping Society’s Future, The Race to Save Lives: Comparing Vaccine Development Timelines, Tracking COVID-19 Vaccines Around the World, Pandemic Proof: The Most Loved Brands of COVID-19, A Global Breakdown of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector, Mainstream EV Adoption: 5 Speedbumps to Overcome, Visualizing the Range of EVs on Major Highway Routes, Charting the Flows of Energy Consumption by Source and Country (1969-2018), Mapped: The World’s Nuclear Reactor Landscape, How to Avoid Common Mistakes With Mining Stocks (Part 4: Project Quality), Comparing Recent U.S. Presidents: New Debt Added vs. I suspect that that’s the source of the error. True Size of Africa - JOTA/JOTI Follow up | Jabbering All Day Long, I showed this map to a colleague, who became annoyed. Join the 220,000+ subscribers who receive our daily email, 50 Years of Gaming History, by Revenue Stream (1970-2020), The 25 Largest Private Equity Firms in One Chart, The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic. Read about the true size of Africa here. Answer: The best answer to the request: Choose the statement that is true, would be: In 1492, Europeans did not know the actual size of the world. The classic example, also used in The West Wing scene, is Greenland: on a Mercator world map, it appears roughly the same size as Africa. Make great charts. The success of the Nintendo Switch has brought on more experimentation and fresh ideas from the company, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it an essential product of 2020. By Facebook’s own estimates in its Q3 2020 reporting, its core products are used by more than 3.2 billion people every month. Take a look at these true size maps that compare the actual, real size of different parts of the world. Wow, Sarah Pailin was right: Africa is one big country! You may be surprised at what you find! Strange that the author uses as evidence of a lack of knowledge of geography the comparison between one Continent, and several countries. Click here for a larger, zoomable version, courtesy of The Economist. Spain, for example, is roughly 1/20th the area of the US per the info provided, but the map of Spain appears to be aoubt 1/8 the size of the US map. And in the tables China is just smaller than the US (and Wolfram Alpha agrees with these area), but given third place instead of forth. The issue here is that of political vs geographical mapping. Nintendo has a long and storied history in gaming—but since the release of the original Game Boy in 1989, the company has favored a two-pronged approach with its game consoles: having both a portable handheld console and a home console which connects to a TV on the market. However, Africa is indeed larger than a couple of continents put together. Most of Indonesian territory is water but its 13,000 islands constitute a considerable amount of land and its 200 million population makes it the 4th largest in the world. As big of a footprint as Facebook has on social networking, the tech giant’s reach is magnified when factoring in mobile apps that it also owns. Pingback: Support an independent site. This one’s for you, cartographers. Africa, which straddles the Equator, barely changes in size — meanwhile, the countries furthest from the Equator become inflated from their true sizes on this type of map. Every nation claims Africa as their own. What’s the true size of Africa? Realizing the true size of Africa also helps us appreciate how daunting it may be to solve Africa’s poverty and food challenges. African country borders are underneath all other countries, which really isn’t helping anything. Mapping the rapid expansion of Facebook into the world’s dominant social network, and the countries and platforms resisting its growth. Few consoles penetrate the mainstream deeply enough to have parents referring to a console by its proper name, instead of their children’s “Gameboy” or “Wii”. It sounds like you’ve looked solely (or at least primarily) at a Mercator projection map. The thick black border is equivalent to a jar that holds jellybeans. However, despite the common perception that Africa is a large landmass, it’s still one that is vastly underestimated by most casual map viewers.. True size of Africa . Africa is No. The main point is surely the table on the left which that shows that Africa is bigger then you think when looking at it on a map of the world. Mapped: Which Countries Have the Worst Air Pollution? Image by Kai Krause, courtesy of The Economist. Yes, that’s right. This has implications not only for Africa, but for the whole Southern Hemisphere: South America, India, the Middle East, and even Australia are “bigger” than they may initially appear on a map. The Mercator projection has some real advantages, especially for navigation. Kai Krause The True Size of Africa A few years back there was an exhibition in a London gallery by the Royal Geographic Society , and the curator asked the edge.org group to contribute “unusual maps”. This graphic explores 20 years of Nintendo console sales and the success of the Nintendo Switch. While the GameCube sold 21.7 million total units and the original Xbox sold ~24 million total units, the Playstation 2 dominated this generation and is still the best-selling video game console of all time with 155 million units sold. That is weird…. Image by Kai Krause, courtesy of The Economist. Australia? “Of course, you know Africa is a continent, right, so why would it be news that many ‘major’ countries in the world are smaller in area? Did 2020 mark the height of Facebook’s global empire, or is it just another milestone on the path towards further domination? And Madagascar is more than twice the size of the UK, but they seem to have the same size on the map. True size of Africa – Infoviz project « CS450. However, despite the common perception that Africa is a large landmass, it’s still one that is vastly underestimated by most casual map viewers. Well worth reading, because a lot of commenters here are missing the point. Spain is actually scaled incorrectly. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. http://www.sunda.org/assets/indoamermap.gif : this map shows the enormous size of Indonesia. The True Size of Africa « Signal/Noise. The African continent has a land area of 30.37 million sq km (11.7 million sq mi) — enough to fit in the U.S., China, India, Japan, Mexico, and many European nations, combined. Kai Krause scales countries by their area in square kilometers and then fits them into a Africa’s borders for some perspective. By the way most political maps do qualify this fact and in most cases include a scale of the levels of northern exaggeration (normally located in next to the legend or scale). The Wii U’s weak sales brought about one of Nintendo’s worst periods ever in recent history, with two unprofitable years for the company in 2012 and 2014. The question now is if Facebook’s domination will grow further, or if it’ll begin to subside. The True Size Of Africa Map. This means that the sizes of European and North American countries are distorted, giving us an inaccurate mental “measuring stick” for judging the relative sizes of other countries. With increasing scrutiny of tech giants, the company is facing massive antitrust lawsuits in the U.S. by federal and state authorities, and other countries are stepping up potential regulation as well. ^_° GIS, anyone? The continent of Africa is larger than the United States, China and Brazil combined. Today, it was the true size of Africa.. These successes proved that the gaming audience would support two separate Nintendo consoles on the market, and Nintendo kept the strategy going the following generations. What do you think? The image also needs some explanation which has been separated through the way it’s been disseminated on the web. The data was tabulated by Vincenzo Cosenza at Vincos.it by examining annual traffic data from Alexa and SimilarWeb. Editor’s note: The above table is slightly different from the countries shown in the visualization, which focuses more on fitting recognizable country shapes into the geographical shape of Africa.