Ken Gargett Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Compare Australia's Size To Other Countries HuffPost Australia | By Josh Butler Email Posted: 09/09/2015 17:23 AEST Updated: 09/09/2015 17:23 AEST Ever wanted to really see how big Australia is? | The True Size Share 265 Tweet 100 Email 2 Comment 0 Australia is big. Really big. We all know that. But here's a way to find out exactly how big Australia really is, compared to other nations. Website 'The True Size' lets you grab an outline of Australia -- or any other country on the globe -- and drag it over the top of another nation (or continent), so you can compare land mass. The site's creators say the Mercator projection, which many world maps are based off, distorts the size of certain countries and makes regular size comparisons difficult. "Cartographers use something called a "projection" to morph the globe into 2D map. The most popular of these is the Mercator projection. Every map projection introduces distortion," the site claimed. "One of the most common criticisms of the Mercator map is that it exaggerates the size of countries nearer the poles (US, Russia, Europe), while downplaying the size of those near the equator (the African Continent). On the Mercator projection Greenland appears to be roughly the same size as Africa. In reality, Greenland is 0.8 million sq. miles and Africa is 11.6 million sq. miles, nearly 14 and a half times larger." Don't believe us? Check this classic scene from The West Wing, explaining things in a bit more detail (the website's creators even say this scene was the inspiration behind the tool): The True Size means you can properly compare countries. For instance, how about checking out Australia vs China? Or Australia on top of Europe? Let's compare Australia to Africa now. And how does the Middle East measure up? Do your own comparisons at The True Size.
PapaDisco Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Yeah, y'all just don't have any people. Now show up at the party with .8-1.3bn and we can talk . . .
Duxnutz Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Yeah, y'all just don't have any people. Now show up at the party with .8-1.3bn and we can talk . . . Just flew from the bottom right corner bit (Sydney) to Darwin (top left bit) and it's amazing how little (and yet heaps) there is in between.
OZCUBAN Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Pretty bloody big that was certainly apparent on our flight back to Perth from Brisbane Going by those maps we flew the equivalent of Pakistan/Afganistan to Egypt
planetary Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 I'm pretty sure Australia isn't a real place. Like the moon landing, it's a conspiracy. 1
ElPuro Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 I generally hear/read very little about Australia in the news, which is probably reflective of the media's lack of international coverage/bias than anything else. Nonetheless, sounds like a great placed to live!
Duxnutz Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 I generally hear/read very little about Australia in the news, which is probably reflective of the media's lack of international coverage/bias than anything else. Nonetheless, sounds like a great placed to live! Talk to your average Aussie and/or news outlet and they'd have you believe we're the centre of the universe!
Ken Gargett Posted November 3, 2015 Author Posted November 3, 2015 Talk to your average Aussie and/or news outlet and they'd have you believe we're the centre of the universe! same everywhere. when i lived in the states, it seemed local news was the city you were in, national news was the rest of your state and international news the rest of the country. we are no better.
dvickery Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Some may have intimated that a small population is a handy cap ... I believe it is Australia's greatest asset . Derrek
Guest rob Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 same everywhere. when i lived in the states, it seemed local news was the city you were in, national news was the rest of your state and international news the rest of the country. we are no better. KG, I take your point (and generally agree), however I'd like to think most of us are across international affairs fairly well. For at least the news that is important.
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