Episode
Is Greenland as big as Africa?
- Podcast
- More or Less
- Published
- Jan 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 538
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0mwssvn
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Summary
The vast island of Greenland has found itself at the centre of a geopolitical crisis. But a little bit of geography can help us see the situation in a new light. YouTuber and map expert Jay Foreman explains how Mercator maps - the maps that the vast majority of us use to understand the world - contain necessary but massive distortions and hugely exaggerate the size of the Arctic island. So, why is making a flat map of a round globe so difficult? Why did we end up with a problematic map in the first place? And are there any alternatives? Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Nathan Gower Series Producer: Tom Colls Editor: Richard Vadon Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Engineer: James Beard