See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Think about a map of the world. The image you're picturing will most ...

The world map is a familiar sight on classroom walls and in atlases, but you might be surprised to learn that it’s not an accurate representation of the Earth. In fact, in terms of country and ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Students attending Boston public schools will get a more accurate ...

The African Union has backed a campaign to end the use by governments and international organizations of the 16th-century Mercator map of the world in favor of one that more accurately displays Africa ...

Every map starts with the same lie: The earth is flat. The globe isn’t a portable, affordable, or even satisfying way to look at the world, so these exaggerations are necessary. However, mapmakers ...

In classrooms, offices, and libraries across the United States, one world map appears again and again: the Mercator projection. Its familiarity makes it feel authoritative, even though it was never ...

Phil Edwards was a senior producer for the Vox video team. Even if you've never seen Gerardus Mercator, you've almost certainly seen his work. His Mercator projection map, invented in 1569, was the ...

MAPS of the world have the impossible task of portraying the Earth—a three-dimensional shape—on a flat sheet of paper. Mapmakers have to choose a projection of the globe that approximates the basic ...