to avoid address abuse, please type it yourself

the true size of Africa

The Economist distinguished itself by its superb news presentation, both the writing and the graphics. I really enjoy reading the articles (in between lines also) and exploring deeper information from the images (there it is, surely). However, recently I was at a loss with the image (map actually, see it on the right) attached to the article on Africa’s economy (Bulging in the middle) on Oct. 20, 2012. For two reasons: (1) from economic point of view, I can’t reason the selection of countries filling up the Africa’s outline; (2) from the fact that all map projections distort in one way or another, I question the presentation area-wise. The image below, where I matched the colors from the image on the right, shows that the countries selected are of moderate latitude - which keeps distortions somewhat at bay. And map projec- tions could be very misleading: I can put whole Africa into the outline of Canada (with a room to spare), and two Africas into the outline of Russia (ROLLOVER the image on the right).

But wait, I say to myself — do other people see it my way? Search the web! Yes, certainly, area-wise and meaning-wise. Starting with The Economist’s stuff: the true size of Africa was the subject of the Graphic Detail, a blog site (http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail, where a new chart or map is published every working day), on Nov. 10, 2010. To summarize, The Economist’s map (ROLLOVER the bottom image, the map on the right) is using Gall's Stereo- graphic Cylindrical Projection to minimize shape distortions of the Mercator projection (the map on the left).

the true size of africa

OK, I can settle for one of the projections but however you look at it, Africa is much bigger than it looks on most maps. So back to my original point: whatever the projection, I don’t see a message related to Africa’s economy.

the true size of Africa

 2012-11-04 

2012-10-28
2012-10-21
2012-10-14
2012-10-07
2012-09-30
2012-09-23
2012-09-16
2012-09-09
2012-09-02
2012-08-26
2012-08-19
2012-08-12
2012-08-05
2012-07-29
2012-07-22
2012-07-15
2012-07-08
2012-07-01
2012-06-24
2012-06-17
2012-06-10
2012-06-03
2012-05-27
2012-05-20
2012-05-13
2012-05-06

 

PREVIOUS

 

WEBSITE  EDITOR:
Krešimir J. Adamić