Africa remains the least developed continent, and the most plagued by disease, poverty and malnutrition. The ‘dark continent’ also largely remains off the news radar in the developed world, although it’s not clear to me whether that is a consequence or a cause of the troubles it suffers.
In any case, taking into account how little we are aware of Africa, it’s quite startling to see a map showing how big the place actually is. This map is strangely reminiscent of an earlier post on this blog, showing the size of Brazil relative to the nations of most of Europe. It was taken here from a blog called White African, but seems to originate from the Times Atlas.
It shows how Africa (30,3 million km²) is larger than the combination of China (9,6 million km²), the US (9,4 million km²), Western Europe (4,9 million km²), India (3,2 million km²) and Argentina (2,8 million km²), three Scandinavian countries and the British Isles (map gives no surface for these last two areas; I’ve rounded out the figures for the aforementioned regions).
What’s also quite bizarre is the fact that a relatively sparsely populated country such as Argentina (about 38 million inhabitants) is not that much smaller than India, the world’s second-most populous nation, which currently has a population of about 1,1 billion people.
Africa: The size of a continent
Many identify Africa with less-developed countries, disease and war ridden……but what almost all forget is the sheer size of that continent that will never allow one-size-fits all approaches. The map below provides a better understanding…
Trackback by Duvet-Dayz — November 20, 2006 @ 2:09 pm
It’s pretty easy to cram lots of extra stuff in when Alaska apparently doesn’t count as part of “the USA”.
Comment by MAS — November 20, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
[...] 35 – The Size of Africa « strange maps [...]
Pingback by illtemper.org » Blog Archive » I’ve got your Mercator projection right here! — November 20, 2006 @ 7:05 pm
Where are Alaska and Hawaii?…
Comment by Yuval — November 20, 2006 @ 10:06 pm
Your readers above seem to imply that the only reason Africa appears large relative to the USA is because your analysis has omitted Alaska. Those narrow-minded responses sadly say so much about the level of ignorance within the developed world, and perhaps even more about the staggeringly misguided perceptions and lacking education of the typical American citizen. And we only have to look at the disaster which is current US foreign policy to see the catastrophic results of such a diminished perspective.
But to return to the subject of maps, there is an interesting analysis of the cartographic projection problem here.
The Peters projection provides a particularly interesting alternative view of the world, and I also remember this even more instructive and eye-openingly humbling view of the Earth from the viewpoint of the undeveloped South.
Comment by redrun7 — November 21, 2006 @ 9:58 am
I think the major problem in africa is education. it is most important even than poverty. If the know how to tackle their problems they can survive and it is possible only by getting education.
Comment by Cars — November 21, 2006 @ 10:38 am
Ha ha. Yes, a British map overlooks a 1.7 million sq km piece of land in trying to make a point…but really it’s just a reflection of American lack of education and foreign policy. Brilliant, Captain Logic.
Comment by MAS — November 22, 2006 @ 2:48 pm
It would appear that the surface of the USA mentioned in the map is that of the entire USA (including Alaska and Hawaii). The map mentions almost 9,4 million sq. km; Wikipedia mentions ‘over 9,5 million sq. km’.
Since Alaska alone measures almost 1,5 million sq. km, one would have to conclude that the difference between Wikipedia and this map is one of marginal error, not of omission (of Alaska or other outlying areas).
I therefore expect that the surface comparisons on the map are correct, and that the mapmakers simply didn’t find any room to fit in an area as large as Alaska into the Africa map (although it seems that all the areas of Africa not covered by overlaying countries would be big enough to be puzzled together into a tropical Alaska).
Comment by strangemaps — November 24, 2006 @ 9:03 pm
redrun7,
So you are comparing the level of ignorance in the developed world relative to what? The third world? It sounds like you are implying that there is some other world out there where ignorance doesn’t exist. Additionally, you can completely tell the comment about Alaska was a light-hearted. You know what you sound like? You sound like someone who makes themselves feel intelligent by calling others ignorant. We both know there are people out there who are sharper than you (me being one of them), so lighten up on the guy. I mean, someone makes a comment about how alaska isn’t included and you start going off on U.S. foreign policy. How did you go from point Alaska on a map to a conclusion about U.S. foreign policy? It’s like you said, 1+1 equals 2 therefore U.S. foreign policy is a disaster. Nevermind, you are probably one of those people who denies any type of Western Logic (hint: the kind that made the computer you are using to post your comments, and the kind that made the reproduction of maps like the one above possible). If you can’t go from point A to point B without making blatant errors in logical reasoning, how the heck can you evaluate U.S. foreign policy?
Comment by dumbamerican — November 28, 2006 @ 10:42 am
To add to dumbamerican – redrun7 should also be intelligent enough to recognize Yuval as not being an American name… but rather as one implying residence in the country ranked 151st in area size. Not much room for patronizing from this stance.
-Yuval
Comment by Yuval — November 29, 2006 @ 9:19 pm
Crikey – looks like a raw nerve or too exploded there. And whilst it’s good to see some healthy and critical debate, personal insults aren’t actually going to help anyone.
My thesis is that strangemaps’ original post is not at all about how big the US is (or isn’t), but rather that Africa is much larger than the most common map projections imply, and that it certainly deserves much more of our attention and support than it receives.
Our views of the world are shaped by what we see on maps – and since the world maps we typically use are systematically quite misleading, then we’re almost bound to look at the world in a misguided way. To educate our kids better about the wider world, it is useful and thought-provoking to use maps like the Peters or inverted Peters projection – at the very least they can stimulate an alternative viewpoint which helps us to look beyond our own narrow national boundaries.
Some recent studies have suggested that US students do score markedly lower on world geography questions than students from other western nations, although of course knowledge can (and should) be improved everywhere. But since the US has the biggest (and currently most internationally active) military, it’s essential for the future wellbeing of everyone on the planet that the deployment of that military should be grounded on the best possible information which takes into account the widest possible world view assembled from a range of different perspectives.
Comment by redrun7 — November 30, 2006 @ 12:05 pm
The British Isles?
You probably didn’t hear it in the news but Ireland gained her independence from England in 1922. You might want to update your map.
Comment by Tom Raftery — November 30, 2006 @ 1:21 pm
Am I the only one not in awe of the fact that a continent is larger than a country?
Comment by Ashley — November 30, 2006 @ 5:27 pm
[...] Some I liked: The size of Africa, Plan for Britain’s incorporation to US, Regions of American politics (I’ve seen this somewhere else recently, in the election aftermath) Europe’s North-South divides, Europe as the US and the US as Europe. [...]
Pingback by lululu » Blog Archive » The World According to W — December 5, 2006 @ 6:13 am
[...] [...]
Pingback by Epistles to the Corkonians » Blog Archive » strange maps — December 5, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
Let’s listen to Ashley for a second. Why are we comparing countries to continents? That seems to be the most potentially offensive issue here, especially in light of GWBush’s reference to Africa as a country.
Comment by David — December 11, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
Britain, Eire and the Scandinavias are part of Western Europe ^_^
Comment by chsf — December 22, 2006 @ 1:59 am
At the risk of sounding pedantic, I’d comment that Madagascar is part of Africa.
Comment by scarred — January 21, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
ya’ll hav a real cool website I learned a lot of stuff my brain hurts
Comment by courtney — February 24, 2007 @ 9:56 pm
Funny. The USSR did not have a problem governing as one for 75 years.
Comment by dan — April 5, 2007 @ 4:07 am
Tom Raferty: Yes, ireland is independent.
But it is also still a part of the british isles. “The british isles” is where the nations of the United kingdom and the republic of ireland are located.
Comment by alfred — April 5, 2007 @ 11:19 pm
it is fine in this case to compare continents with countries, because the point is that the entire land mass of Africa is misrepresented in contrast with other land masses.
Comment by jessica — April 7, 2007 @ 6:00 am
Did anybody notice that this is a comparison of a continent and a bunch of countries. No shit, africa is bigger, why dont you actually compare the size of things that are similar, douchebag.
Comment by steve — April 7, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
Do another one for Russia. LMAO
Comment by Alex — April 8, 2007 @ 12:18 am
I am always amazed at the entries on blogs. The purpose of the map was to enlighten those of you who have bad “mental maps”. It is a spacial representation rather than a population map.
If the purpose of human existence is at least in part to learn, why is it that ignorant people cannot just say: “aha” and STFU?
If you put the “entire” US (including Islands and territories), Canada and China inside this same graphic you essentially cover Africa. That is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest countries in the world equaling a place hardly any of you have a clue about.
The point of the map was to show intelligent people (like some of you here) a misconception. For most people, this would lead them to think, while for some it is an opportunity to either show off or display their ignorance.
Comment by Phil Butler — April 8, 2007 @ 4:49 am
Checked this up from an arguement I had with my cousin last night, tried to equate America’s size to West Africa and I wasnt having it – I insisted USA is as large as Africa!!! You sure showed me ny ignorance. Thanks. The argument could have been in a larger group!!
Comment by Abims — April 16, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
[...] interesting to read is the blog post that accompanies the Africa map, and some of the heated discussion that ensues. Who would have [...]
Pingback by Baggas’ Blog - Paul’s blog on life, medicine, faith, technology and much more… » Turning the world upside down — April 20, 2007 @ 3:31 am
Now, as we start to compare continents and countries, there is one country that is also a continent. It would be interesting to see how Australia compares in size to other countries. I’m pretty sure it’s the smallest continent, although Antarctica…?
Comment by Rog — April 20, 2007 @ 6:25 am
[...] from Strange Maps, and shows how big the continent of Africa really is in terms of the square footage of different [...]
Pingback by Let’s Give ‘em Something to Talk About : Blogworld — April 22, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
[...] The size of Africa June 19, 2007 Posted by Tim Carriker in General. trackback One more of those maps to put continents into perspective, this time, Africa. Read more about it HERE. [...]
Pingback by The size of Africa « The Church in Mission — June 19, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
redrun7 is a pretentious tool.
Comment by me — July 20, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
Yuval: it’s dangerous to say “not an American name”! This is a nation of immigrants.
Comment by Anton Sherwood — September 13, 2007 @ 12:36 am
Does anyone have a comparison between North America and Europe?
Comment by Pat Howard — September 14, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Did you just buy your first globe or something ? “Hey, look, Africa is big. Apparently it’s like a whole continent or something.” Saharan Africa and the Sahel are mostly marginal lands hardly fit for human habitation given current technology. Although many North Africans do not consider themselves Arab, they are saddled with the untenable Arab world view which attempts to place a veneer of civilization over backward tribalism characterized by traditional Islamic [sharia] law. North Africa will continue to be the land of the beaten wife for the foreseeable future. Sub-Saharan Africa is an over-populated shithole. Despite the well-meaning attempts of people like Bill Gates, there really is no hope for major improvement of people’s lives in the foreseeable future based on Africa’s limited infrastructure [much of which is a relic of colonialism], status of reasonably accessible resources, and general state of education. As long as the average sub-Saharan African continues to breed excessively, be ruled by corrupt warlords, and have no hope or even real concept of a better life, the endless cycle of over-population, famine, disease, and warfare will likely continue unabated.
Comment by Skepticsteve — November 19, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
You are comparing countries to a continent here. Why don’t you compare the whole continent of North America. This is very misleading because Argentina is only a country. Same goes for everything else you show.
Comment by Max — December 9, 2007 @ 10:01 pm
Tom Raferty: “British Isles” is a geographical term, not a political one.
Comment by mark — December 13, 2007 @ 9:55 pm
oh my! kids: africa is big. africa is a continent. africa is struggling. i suggest the western world compare their cushy consumerist lifestyle to it, become grateful for what they do have and perhaps think about what they as one person can do to help. or better yet think about who on your very street is struggling and perhaps help them. we are all selfish pricks, myself included, with very little inclination to make a difference through monetary means, kindness, smiles at ‘foreigners’ or simply through thought and prayer. we view the big picture a moment and then analyse it to death, discussing points that overall, really don’t matter.
please note this is coming from a south african now living in australia. charity begins at home, i agree, but for me this ‘dark country’ remains my home. it’s so easy to forget. the problem is so big and we are so small. get some perspective, please, for the sake of the children i played with one day and who died the next, remember this place, rich in culture and wow, soooo filled with hope.
Comment by kaylee — December 17, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
“Tom Raferty: “British Isles” is a geographical term, not a political one.”
Yeah? So why aren’t they the Irish Isles?
Comment by mick — December 19, 2007 @ 7:59 am
Skepticsteve, where do you come from and have you ever been to all the places, indeed any of the places you mentioned in Africa?
Comment by Curious — January 10, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
I don’t understand the relevance of this… Africa isn’t an “other country” it’s a continent. Next in size behind Eurasia. So what?
Anyway, it’s kind of funny that you guys are at each others’ throats over the ramifications of pretty much arbitrary and pointless graphic. Oh well, a toast to entertaining idiots.
Comment by Connor — January 12, 2008 @ 1:29 am
Africa = continent.
Too many overweight americans vegging out in front of their pc’s surfing the blogosphere are just looking for things to complain about and disagree with what they believe to be consensus opinion. Move to Africa and help them out yourself if its such a big deal, your american bucks would make you a rich man over there and you could accomplish lots. If we were to try and help them out the way we did… oh, gee, lets say IRAQ, youd all be complaining that our money would be better spent within the country and going on about how we can’t afford to be the world police. Eat some more cheetos and read the new york times, losers.
Comment by matt — January 15, 2008 @ 7:14 pm
When I rule the World I’m killing everything – starting with the animals first and then the humans. Dominance will be MINE!!!!!!
Comment by Im Right — January 19, 2008 @ 11:06 am
Africa is a huge continent with vast natural resources , manpower and amazing undiscovered holiday destinations . Africa has a dark history from the days of slavery , colonialisation
and now poor governance, dictatorships and the aids outbreak . Africa’s problems are also caused by policies passed by the IMF ,World bank and the WTO which favour the developed world . African countries seeking loans have economic structural adjustment programmes imposed which leave the countries worst of.
Comment by The African development Foundation(ADF) — February 15, 2008 @ 1:23 am
Africa’s problems can be dramatically reduced if the continents resources are effectively utilised and economic discrimination by the IMF,WTO and World bank are stopped. The world will not give Africa prosperity so Africa and its people will have to aggressively persue economic growth and power . Sometimes the underdog suprises us all and wins .Therefore Africa may have a bright future yet.
Comment by ADF — February 15, 2008 @ 1:45 am
Did you all know that africa is the one and only continent set into the earth’s crust. It is the only continent that did not experience great movement during the great seperation. This feature will also shield africa from many catistrophic natural disasters.
Comment by Menace 2012 — March 13, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Is Dieting Anti- Feminist?
Comment by weightloss — March 20, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
Skepticsteve, where do you come from and have you ever been to all the places, indeed any of the places you mentioned in Africa?
Comment by Curious — January 10, 2008 @
—————–
My thoughts exactly! When all these westerners go to ‘Africa’, do they get there on a boat? No. They fly there. So please tell me, who built the airports? Or are they also ony ‘relics of colonialism’? How about all the buildings, who drives the cars etc. You are only ignorant because you choose to be!
Comment by JaliliMaster — April 5, 2008 @ 9:37 am
[...] One more of those maps to put continents into perspective, this time, Africa. Read more about it HERE. [...]
Pingback by The Church in Mission » The size of Africa — May 30, 2008 @ 5:39 am
[...] I’ve always known that Africa was a very big continent. But I didn’t know it was this big! [via] [...]
Pingback by Africa In Perspective: It’s big. Really big. | Doobybrain.com — June 1, 2008 @ 1:55 pm
[...] Africa is really big News Add comments I’ve always known that Africa was a very big continent. But I didn’t know it was this big! [via] [...]
Pingback by The Conference » Blog Archive » Africa is really big — June 3, 2008 @ 4:22 am
[...] Strange Maps (aliás é um blog muito bom se você gosta de [...]
Pingback by A África é bem maior do eu imaginava… : PostMania - Tem sempre algo novo — June 4, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
[...] Africa (30.3 million km²) is larger than China (9.6 million km²), the U.S. (9.4 million km²), Western Europe (4.9 million km²), India (3.2 million km²) and Argentina (2.8 million km²), three Scandinavian countries and the British Isles COMBINED (see map above, click to enlarge). Link here. [...]
Pingback by Africa = U.S. + Europe + China + India + Argentina | Economist Blog — June 4, 2008 @ 6:41 pm
[...] Visto en Strange Maps. [...]
Pingback by Otra perspectiva de África « Mare Magnum — June 9, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
The reason why this is so surprising (to non-Africans, that is) is because of the eurocentric maps that we’ve all grown up with.
Printed maps are essentially a distortion that tries to map the spherical Earth onto a flat surface – and the more of the Earth you try and include on a single map, the worse the distortion. The problem is that the most common projections (Mercator, etc) severely underrepresents the equatorial and tropical regions in favour of the sub-tropical – thereby making Africa appear smaller than e.g. North America.
This problem has been solved some time ago by e.g. Dr Arno Peters who devised what he calls an “equal-area projection” which preserves the relative size of land masses in the mapping to a rectangular map.
See an example of his map at:
http://www.petersmap.com
(Click through to Page 2 for a comparison between the traditional world map and the equal-area map)
From: an enlightened African ;-)
Comment by Tian — June 9, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
now that is an incredible fact and image.
Comment by dunk — June 9, 2008 @ 4:19 pm
[...] [via Strangemaps] [...]
Pingback by Africa « Gems Sty — June 9, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
never realize africa is this large.
Comment by Cindy — June 9, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
Thanks for all your posts. I’ve learned a lot now, time well spent. I’m off to check our family globus now, and show off to my mom what I now know. Ahaha.
Comment by Vegar — June 9, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
To greatly solve Africa’s problems, we must first get rid of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. He and his cronies have destroyed Zimbabwe beyond recognition.
http://www.bestsnippets.com/post/34964374/zimbabwes-robert-mugabe-must-go
Comment by Best Snippets — June 9, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
That’s really amazing; I never realized how big Africa was. I quickly looked up the size of Canada to compare (9.9 million sq km).
Comment by d legal — June 9, 2008 @ 7:40 pm
[...] The Size of Africa http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/35-the-size-of-africa/ [...]
Pingback by The Size of Africa « ..: Ristorante Mystica :.. — June 9, 2008 @ 8:22 pm
Wow. Now how much of that is inhabited wilderness with no population?
Comment by business — June 9, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
dumbamerican,
As soon as you make arogant claims such as being “sharper” than someone, you lose credibility. Now, not only do I NOT consider sharper than the person you are attacking, I concider you a loser with no life and nothing better to do than bitch and whine about something someone said on an internet comment. This absolutely PROVES that people in the developed world can be and ARE completely ignorant. Thanks for cementing this fact with your tactless, fruitless, and witless rebuttal to an insignificant scrap of text on a soon to be forgotten page of the internet.
Regards,
WellRoundedAmerican
Comment by WellRoundedAmerican — June 9, 2008 @ 10:05 pm
Africa is a continent, not a country…
Comment by ryan — June 9, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
someone from above said:
“say so much about the level of ignorance within the developed world”
I mean you really got to laugh at a statement like that. What about the “smarts” in the undeveloped world? rofl
Comment by yo — June 9, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
What’s the point here? No one arguing the virtues of Africa seem to notice that nearly half of the land in africa is arid desert or semi-arid, barely usable land.
I don’t understand the need to try to describe Africa by it’s land mass. With nearly zero country unity in the entire continent, the comparisons are moot. The U.S. has states that have economies that are larger than the whole continent combined.
As was said here before…..Education is the key towards reviving Africa into a continent that will succeed. Also, if religious intolerance and the associated ignorance that is currently invading Africa continues unabated, the entire continent will fail.
Comment by elbarfo — June 9, 2008 @ 11:26 pm
wow!
reading through comments I find other posts talking about “dumb americans”.
If americans are dumb, what the heck does that make the rest of the world.
I’ll tell ya. absolute morons
Comment by yo — June 9, 2008 @ 11:27 pm
Yeah, Africa is a continent.
And Asia is much, much, much larger than Africa.
Comment by Jake — June 9, 2008 @ 11:29 pm
Reminds me of an old SCTV sketch called “What Fits Into Russia”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-t2KEYS9DcQ
Comment by Sandy — June 9, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
[...] separated from other continents by a lot of ocean, and also it sits in the Southern Hemisphere. But here’s a map that shows just how big it really [...]
Pingback by Alonline » The size of Africa — June 9, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
we know africa is big… it has to be, they got alot of elephants
Comment by elephantman — June 10, 2008 @ 12:00 am
Wowsers, I had no idea. Isnt Australia the only other continent larger than Africa?
JT
http://www.an0n.mirrorz.com
Comment by Jimmy TwoTone — June 10, 2008 @ 1:45 am
africa is composed of many countries as opposed to the usa, china, india alone. altho western europe is also a region of many nations, the economic dependency african countries pales in comparisons of those western european nations. this is, however, of any sign showing disrespect (in any way), but personally, i think that comparison of sheer size alone do not prove much when optimization of usage of this resource is not currently being done. in addition, the effort to fight global climate changes restrain the industrial development of africa as a whole. for that reason, in order to promote the economic power of africa, something must be done to alleviate the problems of climate changes first and foremost.
Comment by stephen chow — June 10, 2008 @ 2:15 am
Umm, crazy story, but Africa is a “Continent.” Your comparing it to “Countries.” I think that’s kind of the same idea as comparing baby carrots to normal carrots
Comment by Joe — June 10, 2008 @ 3:24 am
Umm. Africa is not a country.
“People often underestimate how large Africa is, so we figured we’d put it into perspective by transposing many of the worlds other countries as we could.”
lol other countries
Comment by BS Ames — June 10, 2008 @ 5:44 am
He is comparing LANDMASSES to LANDMASSES.
So shut up about continents vs countries.
And some of you americans, this was not a size competition. So stop acting like bad loosers.
And some of you western europeans, the low knowledge of world geographics among americans discussion is getting old. Drop it. A better average score on that would not make the world a safer place. A better score among the population in all the developing countries would.
Comment by Sneezer — June 10, 2008 @ 6:45 am
what a waste of land!
Comment by pufone — June 10, 2008 @ 8:24 am
Ok, this maps purpose is to show a comparison of size. Most people only comprehend the size of their country they live in, not the entire continent they reside on. So it is much easier to show comparison this way. Also this is old. Did none of you take geography in high school? Jeeze pay attention already.
Comment by EdwardTeach — June 10, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
[...] Names – (Oddee) 7 Modern Wonders of Green Technology – (Web Urbanist) Africa In Perspective – (Strange Maps) Girl In Wii Fit YouTube Clip Gets Two Million Admirers – (Daily Mail UK) Top 5 Things I Learned [...]
Pingback by Daily Links 11 June 2008 — June 10, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
Scandinavia and the British isles are part of Western-Europe and their size is included in the land-mass number for that continent.
Comment by Daniel — June 10, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
[...] Great map of Africa, in relation to other countries around the world. [...]
Pingback by Daily Dyson » Blog Archive » Temporary Hiatus — June 10, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Africa In Perspective!…
Maps don’t tend to show just how big Africa is.
Here is a map that demonstrates how big the continent is!…
Trackback by MonkeyReview.co.uk — June 10, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
Well what do you know! I am from Africa and right now I am chiseling this post onto a piece of wood and somehow miraculously getting it onto this blog. That is for all the posters here that think that Africa is uneducated and that we all run around naked amongst the animals shagging, fishing and hunting. Yes there is poverty, yes there are uneducated people, yes there is crime and corruption – but please give me the name of one continent where this doesn’t exist. Africa needs help that’s all you need to really know, that’s all I really care about.
Ok, I’m done here now so I’m going to step away from my Duel Core CPU 2.13GHz, 3.25 GB RAM piece of wood and go do some hunting or something.
Comment by TMB — June 11, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
[...] Africa With Other Stuff Inside It [...]
Pingback by Holy Crap — Africa’s Huge — June 12, 2008 @ 3:20 am
[...] The size of Africa [...]
Pingback by Deep&Meaningless | Sundeep Sidhu » Blog Archive » Bet you didn’t know this… — June 12, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
this is so cool
Comment by Tazeen — June 13, 2008 @ 6:51 am
[...] new one amazed me. I knew I’m living on a big continent, but I did not know if was that big! Look here how you can fit the US, Western Europe, India, China, Argentinia and three Nordic countries on top [...]
Pingback by nielsemmer.com » Look at the size of that one! — June 15, 2008 @ 7:50 am
Dude
Your comparing a continent with countries.
DUH! of course it will be big.
You compair apples with apples & see who is big & not apples with watermelons to see who is big.
No wonder why Africa is so under developed.
Comment by littl smart — June 15, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
I’m working on creating the USA…United States of Africa…I think just as in basketball if black people start playing the same ball game as the whites they (blacks) will jump higher!!…FYI blacks weren’t allowed to play basketball in [peace] back in the day..ohh Africa has the same story…
Comment by President of AFRICA — June 16, 2008 @ 3:54 am
Wow. Some people are completely missing the point. All this map was intended to do was correct the misconception that “Africa” is
a) a single country
b) as small as it’s traditionally shown on maps
c) is large enough that a one size fits all approach won’t work.
The use of countries vs continents is simply to show the size comparison in specific, relatable terms.
I’m amazed at some of the comments on here.
Comment by Chick — June 16, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
sorry..
correct the misconception that “Africa” is
c) small enough that a one size fits all approach will work.
Just wanted to correct that.
Comment by Chick — June 16, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
November 20, 2006 was the day of the first comment on this. Today is June 17th, 2008. Over a year and a half worth of comments on the size of Africa which has not changed since this whole thing started. My final statement is this: Africa is really big. END OF DISCUSSION.
Comment by another american — June 17, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
I agree with the guy above me (up there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Comment by Dor The Great — June 17, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
It’s very very interesant, like ever!
WesternEurope is not that much bigger than Argentina!!
Comment by Barcelona — June 18, 2008 @ 11:25 am
why argentina instead of Brazil?
Comment by ferna_pessa — June 19, 2008 @ 7:38 am
Hillarious how many people have written “duh – its a continent” as if they were the first person to write it on this blog, and then think it makes them look smart.
It’s an interesting illustration, that ought to provoke some thought.
If all you can do is snipe at someone’s worthwhile blog post you don’t deserve the internet.
Comment by Dunxd — June 19, 2008 @ 8:02 am
There are only **TWO** Scandinavian countries shown.
Finland is NOT part of Scandinavia.
I wonder why Denmark was left out ?…
Comment by Major Loon — June 19, 2008 @ 8:53 am
The fact that all these facts seem bizarre to so many people indicates the lack of geographical education at school. There are myriads of looks-like-weird facts in the world, which in fact are regular.
Comment by Steven — June 19, 2008 @ 9:31 am
[...] … provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of loan Loan… [...]
Pingback by » Blog Archive » bad credit student loans 69884 — July 4, 2008 @ 10:53 am
[...] c’est grand [...]
Pingback by Le blog de Vincent Battaglia » En vrak - 80 — July 6, 2008 @ 11:53 am
[...] continent in which poverty, malnutrition, and disease are relatively rampant. Here’s a map to put the size of Africa into perspective. It’s larger than China, the contiguous United States, India, Western Europe, and [...]
Pingback by The World of Stuff » Blog Archive » The horror — July 12, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
[...] AfrikaUm mal die Größe von Afrika zu verdeutlichen. [...]
Pingback by schriftBild — July 24, 2008 @ 4:18 am
Michael Phelps is bad-ass!
Comment by Robin — August 17, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
[...] The Size of Africa [...]
Pingback by Sizing the USA « Francis Anderson — August 19, 2008 @ 3:11 am
[...] White African Via Strange Maps Via Scarlett Lion Via Chris Blattman Via Lane Kenworthy Via Jeff Weintraub Via Norman Geras Via [...]
Pingback by Constant Flux › Africa Is Big — September 4, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Isn’t America tiny – not nearly so big as I thought!
Comment by steve — September 28, 2008 @ 9:55 am
thanks.
Comment by hero — October 15, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
[...] I’ve been struggling for some profound insights concerning this display. I discovered at this display that I prefer dioramas that depict the animal’s natural habitat to just displaying the animal in a glass box. I’ve previously covered the fact that the African continent is big enough to put USA, India, Argentina, Western Europe, and China in with ease. [...]
Pingback by American Natural History Museum: Akeley Hall of African Mammals | ideonexus.com — November 2, 2008 @ 8:00 am
Whats next? Comparing Asia to other countries? :-D
Meanwhile the comments turned out to be more interesting than the post itself. People who made the graphic at Times Atlas must be banging their head against the wall now
Comment by | Balu | — November 17, 2008 @ 10:11 am
[...] Final note: Africa is very big. [...]
Pingback by Sam Liu » Blog Archive » Adventures of Discoordinated Sam — November 18, 2008 @ 4:27 am
[...] Africa’s size in perspective [...]
Pingback by Linkdump 20 | ettf.net — November 18, 2008 @ 10:16 am
[...] Size of [...]
Pingback by Upside of the Apocalypse | THE Official weblog of the Liberator — November 26, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Yes Africa is a massive continent and yes it is full of crime, war, poverty and AIDS.
It is simply the most beautiful continent, it has so many natural resources, a long history of being colonised, terrible leadership in some of its parts, incredibles resources – oil, gold, silver, platinum.
It sometimes gets off the map or gets lack of media attention because as a whole the entire continent is so problematic. Africa needs education, help with combatting AIDS, running water, education, food. They need heads of government who actually care about the people, they need to spend money they get from the UN wisely and they need to stop paying this debt that is crippling them.
But if you just look at Africa as a rather large continent you’re really missing out. Africa has an incredible history. African people are warm, giving and loving beyond anything you imagine when you turn on the news and see a second’s worth of footage of starvation in Ethiopia or a war somewhere.
We are all meant to have come from Africa. I was born in South Africa and this country is breathtaking. The people are beautiful, the African tribes if you look at each person as an individual will give you a plate of food and the best bed in their ‘house’ if you paid a visit.
If you ever find yourself in Africa, please people, they need education, they all need good leadership in their countries, they need antiretrovirals to combat the AIDS virus.
If you don’t know anything about Africa, you are missing out. This place is full of magic, spirit, culture and love. I wish that the right people were leading it.
Comment by Elana Bowman — November 28, 2008 @ 3:22 am
[...] The size of Africa Added on 12/01/2008 at 06:42PM [...]
Pingback by ProjectX Blog » Blog Archive » Xlinks digest - 02 / 12 / 2008 — December 1, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
Scarred said it before .. But yeah the map of Africa is also missing Madagascar (which China should not be able to fully cover) and Cape Verde. Yeah I am just being an ass.
Truly though that is a really interesting map. I’m going to have to share this post. Thanks for it
Comment by Stephen — December 8, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
I guess size does matter, but remember, maps distort reality
Comment by Seamus — January 4, 2009 @ 12:33 am
This is all about white supremacy/RACISM. Why are all the maps still drawn wrong. Why is Africa still deliberately made to look smaller than it actually is. This shapes the mind to see Africans and Blacks as “minorites”. Ther are more Africans/ blacks world wide than any other group except the “oriental” Asians. The Asian Indians are 40% African/ Black themselves. Africa possesses vast mineral wealth all being stollen by Europe, America and even parts of Asia. No one will pay the Africans for their wealth.
http://ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2007/06/04/91821.html
Africa is far richer in oil,diamonds,gold,tantalem,copper,jade,emeralds,silver,fertile lands(with multiple growing seasons) Yet Africans are”poor” and kept so to keep others in control. When will the truth be told about Africa?
It is being ROBBED by the Western Nations till this day. It is not full of crime nor disease nor hiv/aids. The Aids stories are false. It does not even exist.
http://www.whatisaids.com/rollingstone.htm
http://healtoronto.com/
This is about trying to exterminate the Africans. The problems are Purposely polluted drinking water, and shipping most of it’s food to Europe; then label it “aids” and say they are “dying” and stealing the wealth.
It is the medicines that are killing people. The population in Africa is grteater than all of the other continents. Africa has a larger population growth than Europe, the Americas and austrailia and Asia. There are over a billion people there now. This like the maps are purposely minmalized. This is a design to “belittle Africa and Africans.
The TRUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!
Comment by ONE — January 10, 2009 @ 11:29 pm
[...] pm on January 12, 2009 | # | Tags: life Africa is big, really big. § [...]
Pingback by Africa is big, really big. § « Paul M. Watson — January 12, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
If this has been mentioned and I just didn’t see it, I apologize-long day-but, The map says ”many of the world’s other countries” and the ”other countries” again puts people into the mindset that Africa is a country. Maybe you could take the word ”other” out. Otherwise I think it’s a great ”in perspective” idea. I like it. It helps clear up the thought many have (PALIN) that Africa is some poor country out there instead of a very big continent full of countries, each with their own history and culture. But that ”other countries” doesn’t help.
Comment by JD from Hoeno — January 16, 2009 @ 1:37 am
[...] by the video and this excellent map from Strange Maps, I began to ponder on how utterly ridiculous it is that the Westerns Societies take Africa as one [...]
Pingback by African | undomondo — January 19, 2009 @ 6:56 pm
[...] P.S.: Africa is huge! [...]
Pingback by The Dark Incontinent « naturally selected — February 25, 2009 @ 3:23 am
“One” – you are an idiot.The reason for africa looking smaller in comparison to other countries on most maps is that the maps are projections from a sphere to a flat rectangular representation. If you want, you can make a similar map using a different baseline than the equator. Aids DOES exist and does indeed kill millions of Africans every year. And don’t give us your white supremacy rubbish. The reason a large percentage of white people in the world are relatively well of is because they work hard and aren’t fighting wars, and that is exactly what needs to happen in Africa. And on the topic of population growth, in case you hadn’t noticed, the world has a massive overpopulation problem. Having high population growth is something to be ashamed of, not proud of.
Comment by NeuralInstability — March 4, 2009 @ 1:51 pm
nice, really nice!
Comment by domyappolla — April 16, 2009 @ 11:50 pm
When I surf the web, i get so appalled about how misguided you people are about us Africans. What happens in one african country is not the same in another. It’s like comparing England to Turkey just because they’re both in the EU. Some websites were even predicting that we would be exitinct by the turn of this century! We’ve had the last laugh, we’re still around. Our day to day aspirations are just like those of other humans. And believe me most of us are fully content with our lives. We also wonder how you manage to live in those extreme climates with hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons and bitter cold weather. What about those earthquakes that wipe thousands of people from the face of the earth? Our continent is the most seismically stable and so we rarely have tghem here. I could write a book about us on this page!
Comment by Claudius — May 1, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
thanks alot
Comment by Tony — May 4, 2009 @ 2:20 am
thanks for this map
good
luck
Comment by Solomon — May 11, 2009 @ 7:08 am
merci
Comment by aspicco . — May 17, 2009 @ 4:50 am
[...] man mal vom mühsamen Prozess der Semesternotenwürfelung absieht), wobei mir heute wieder mal The Size of Africa untergekommen ist. Ein typischer Fall von “ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend [...]
Pingback by Afrika im Größenvergleich | ComSubVie’s Creative Content — May 27, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
[...] – this map is reminiscent of another size comparison map posted earlier on this blog (#35). Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)230 – Papua New Guinea, the Linguistic [...]
Pingback by 390 – “Portugal Is Not a Small Country” « Strange Maps — June 10, 2009 @ 11:50 pm
The Mercator map was not intended to be strictly accurate in the matter of land sizes. It was intended as a navigation aide, as one could map out a route on it, then point the boat in the direction indicated and know that you would get close enough to the intended destination so that corrections wouldn’t take too long. Plus, while Africa may be shown as “too small,” it is actually accurately drawn land-wise (in comparison to England, or Iceland).
Comment by Don H. — June 11, 2009 @ 2:49 am
As long as we’re chronicling inaccuracies, China and Europe are upside down while Argentina is sideways.
Seriously though, how sad is it that a map showing a fresh perspective on things we don’t usually get to compare leads to the trading of such venom?
How in the world does this spark such anger in so many? Oh, that’s right – it doesn’t. That anger is there regardless of the subject. It’s a short life people. Waste it on anger if you like.
Strangemaps – keep up the good work finding and posting interesting maps. What is your background? Is this just a hobby? Or is it in line with your profession?
Comment by Navin R. Johnson — June 11, 2009 @ 6:06 am
teşekkür ederim
Comment by yory — June 12, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
hmmm …
interesting …
i didnt know this …
i’m maldivian … one of the smallest nations in the world …
:(
Comment by subcorpus — June 19, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
Argentina is incomplete there… it lacks of the Grande Island (shared with Chile) and the Malvinas Islands.
Comment by The Swiss — June 26, 2009 @ 10:41 pm
Vielen Dank
Comment by moon — July 3, 2009 @ 3:49 am
Muchas gracias
Comment by sun — July 4, 2009 @ 6:38 am
heyy this website is great yett,,,it told ME NOTHING wat does anti femenist have to do with africa?? omg wat a waste of time!!! god
byy
Comment by HorsieLuva — July 6, 2009 @ 11:00 am