Old world maps often misrepresented the legitimate sizes of non-western countries, portraying them as smaller than more developed nations.
There were many reasons that cartographers in preceding centuries portrayed the world in a distorted fashion. Whether it was cultural bias, practicality or certain technicalities, old maps were made with a multitude of imperfections. Creating a map of the spherical world on a flat piece of paper is already a challenge for cartographers of today, let alone for map-makers of past eras with fewer technological capabilities.
Old world maps and the real size of non-western countries
From Eurocentrism to the inability to accurately make a map on a flat surface, developing nations often got the short end of the stick from the cartographers of old.
Map projections and distortion
Perhaps the most preferred projection method of cartographers back in medieval times was the Mercator Projection invented by Flemish geographer and map-maker Gerardus Mercator in 1569. His methods were great for being functional as a navigation tool as they kept the shape and therefore directionality was kept accurate. However, it failed when it came to scale. This made countries near the poles appear larger than equatorial regions.
Many maps, such as Mercator projection maps, were not designed to favor proportionality, but instead prioritized functionality. As long as it helped maritime travelers get from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible, size was of little importance.
Eurocentrism and cultural bias
One of the significant driving factors in the reason why developing nations were portrayed as smaller than they were was the colonial idea of Eurocentrism. The European cartographers of Europe, especially during the Age of Exploration and Colonization, put great emphasis on their own lands, regarding the developing nations they colonized as inferior. Larger representations of Europe were symbolic of dominance over the rest of the world.
The biases ran even deeper for some old maps, as map-makers varied land sizes based on economic, political and cultural priorities. Developing countries that were often seen as less-than were always portrayed as tiny compared to their richer counterparts in these cases.
Technological and data limitations
Unfortunately, ancient map-makers did not have satellites that could scan the globe from orbit and create maps of the highest degree of accuracy. Back in the day, mapping relied on ground surveys and limited tools such as sextants. Developing nations were often less explored, as cartographers scarcely left the colonies. As a result, colonized regions were often depicted inaccurately.
A lack of exploration data in certain regions severely impaired the ability of cartographers, whether they were cognizant of it or not. This lack of information led map-makers to make generalized assumptions or just outright disregard large chunks of land.
Political and propaganda tools
Though it was not often the case, some maps were used as propaganda tools in older eras. Maps that were not created to serve any functional use were sometimes utilized to align with the political narratives of the time. For example, if a leader commissioned a cartographer to make a map for his purposes to show the public, they might have encouraged the map-maker to take some creative liberties.
The vast majority of the time, it was colonized nations that were victims of this propaganda. To illustrate dominance over what they deemed as subordinate regions, they would make developing countries tiny in comparison to the controlling region. Sometimes, enemy countries would be made to look smaller as well, regardless of their economic status, showing their supposed inferiority to the cartographer’s nation.
This bias also leaked into the education systems of the time. To encourage a sense of superiority to other nations among the students, schools would portray developing nations as smaller. Not only that, but they often steered into biases for the sake of making the maps easier to read for children. While it worked for that purpose, it perpetuated misinformation and worsened the issue of bias in the map-making world.
The Peters projection map, an accurate view of the world
The Peters Projection map, officially known as the Gall-Peters Projection, is a historically significant attempt to correct the Eurocentric bias of traditional world maps. Developed by German historian and cartographer Arno Peters in 1974, the projection aimed to present all countries in proportion to their actual land area. Peters employed an equal-area cylindrical projection technique, which preserves relative land area but distorts shapes, stretching continents vertically near the equator and squashing them near the poles. Despite this visual distortion, the map’s political and educational impact was profound. Peters argued that maps are not neutral tools but carry ideological weight, influencing how people perceive global importance. His projection gained support from educators, human rights organizations, and the United Nations, particularly for promoting a more equitable view of the world.
