Look at the usual flat map of the world and it appears that Greenland is nearly as big as Africa. But it’s not even close. Africa is 14 times larger. Flat maps significantly distort the sizes of countries and continents, the result of converting a spherical surface to a handy rectangle.
The area of landmasses becomes increasingly exaggerated toward the poles. As a result, we tend to underestimate the size of countries close to the equator, and substantially overestimate the size of countries closer to the poles.
Popular world maps have been criticised for shrinking Africa while exaggerating the size of other continents. Is Africa really the biggest continent? Africa is not the largest continent in the world. But Asia is larger. Its area measures at 43,820,000 km² and makes up 29.5% of Earth’s land. This makes Asia the largest continent.
The Mercator Projection and Its Distortions
The Mercator projection is a commonly used two-dimensional map of the world. It was created by Gerardus Mercator in 1569 to help sailors navigate the world. Flattening the earth into a two dimensional image creates distortions. The Mercator projection has been criticised for exaggerating the size of countries near the poles while shrinking countries closer to the equator.
Critics have argued that this misleading portrayal of Africa’s size has political implications which influence our perception of the continent. Other maps, such as the Peters projection, distort the shapes of countries but accurately show their size. Africa appears much larger in the Peters projection.
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The Mercator projection attempts to place the spherical shape of the world onto a cylinder, causing areas closest to the poles to be “stretched”. This means that the sizes of European and North American countries are distorted, giving us an inaccurate mental “measuring stick” for judging the relative sizes of other countries.
The Real Dimensions
When seen on an equal-area projection, Africa’s true dimensions become clear-and they challenge long-held assumptions about global balance.
Visual reality: Africa is the second-largest continent after Asia. Yet on distorted maps, it often appears dwarfed by North America or comparable to Europe-both far smaller. Europe, often perceived as roughly the same size, is in fact less than one-third of Africa’s land area. Scientific American just published a correctly proportioned image to show how Africa swallows up these nations, with Japan thrown in.
The African continent is much larger than it appears on standard maps of the world. As explained in this column, first published at Le Monde, this distorted projection method has many consequences, particularly in the area of agriculture. The most commonly used world map is based on the method of projection developed in 1569 by the European cartographer, Geert de Kremer, known as Mercator. This method tends to inflate areas in upper and lower latitudes.
As a result, common world maps greatly distort the size of Africa by making it look tiny. The method of projection has had important implications - and outcomes - for Africa. Just as making Africa look small and conquerable then, the Mercator projection makes the continent look small and irrelevant now.
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Africa's Vast Potential
For decades, Africa has been viewed through a distorted lens-literally and figuratively. The result has been chronic underestimation of the continent’s scale, complexity, and opportunity.
One element of Africa’s under-appreciated size is the under-recognised extent to which the continent is still being ‘explored’ for agricultural land and natural resources. At the same time, exploration efforts and resource discoveries have been rising steadily over the past decades, leading to what the Association of American Petroleum Geologist (AAPG) calls an ‘oil boom’. Again, concerns over energy security in Europe and rising energy prices have been accompanied by announcements of large investments in Africa.
These are not abstract statistics; they are the building blocks of a new growth frontier. Yet size alone is not enough.
The food and energy crises triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine make the issue of the real size of Africa even more salient today. Several countries of the continent are facing shortages and even famines, including in the horn of Africa and Madagascar.
The true size of Africa, including its vast amount of uncultivated arable land, should make the leaders of the continent and of the international community seize the opportunity of this crisis to make agriculture much more productive. The longstanding issues plaguing agriculture appear multifaceted and include access to capital, and land registries as well as infrastructure to promote market access.
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But one notable challenge is that Africa existing production is fragmented and has to meet ‘fragmented consumption’. What is more is that the African continental free trade area (AfCFTA), launched uneventfully in 2021, could help make markets work for the people of Africa by regionalising competition bodies and move past domestic politics and vested interests.
The Real Size of Africa Map You Didn't Know || Why was it Distorted ? @africanews #africa #history
Comparative Data
As seen above, the reality is different. Africa is vast-larger than North America, Europe, and China combined. It is the second most populous continent, home to the world’s youngest demographic, and a market whose demand will shape global consumption patterns in the decades ahead. It also contains 60% of the world’s best solar resources, 60% of uncultivated arable land, and increasingly competitive urban hubs.
For the record, then, a list of geographic sizes is below. Indeed, Africa is a continent, not a country, but I think you’ll be impressed at how much larger it is than you probably thought.
Consider the following data:
- Land Area
- Africa: ~30.15 million km²
- Asia: ~44.6 million km² (only ~1.5× larger than Africa, not 3-4× as Mercator maps imply)
- North America: ~24.7 million km² (smaller than Africa)
- South America: ~17.8 million km² (just over half Africa’s size)
- Europe: ~10.4 million km² (less than one-third of Africa)
- Australia (Oceania): ~8.5 million km² (Africa is nearly 4× larger)
- Population (2024)
- Africa: ~1.5 billion
- Asia: ~4.8-4.9 billion (the only region larger)
- Europe: ~740 million (half of Africa)
- North America: ~600 million (about 40% of Africa)
- South America: ~440 million (less than one-third of Africa)
- Oceania: ~45 million (tiny compared to Africa)
- Median Age
- Africa: ~19 years (youngest in the world)
- Asia: ~32
- South America: ~31
- North America: ~38
- Europe: ~44 (oldest)
- Economic Integration (intra-regional trade, % of total trade)
- Africa: ~15-17%
- Asia: ~59%
- Europe: ~68%
- North America (USMCA): ~40%
- South America (MERCOSUR): ~20%
- Digital Penetration (internet users, % of population, 2024)
- Africa: ~38%
- Asia: ~66%
- South America: ~81%
- North America: ~90%
- Europe: ~92%
- Oceania: ~72%
The African Union recently backed the “Correct the Map” campaign, urging schools and institutions to adopt Equal Earth, an equal-area projection that shows Africa’s true scale. This is not just about representation-it’s about correcting decades of visual bias that shape perception and, by extension, business strategy.
There are straight red lines drawn from west to east, at a slight angle, across the continents of Africa and Asia. The line across Africa is labelled 7,200 kilometres, and that across Asia set at 6,400 kilometres.
Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
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