The true size of Africa: A continent so big that the US, China, India perfectly fits in

The true size of the African continent has not been portrayed accurately over the years. You will be amazed to realize that Africa is a very large landmass, larger than what you have seen on most common world maps.

Many African leaders have blamed the Western Media for misrepresenting Africa.  In the words of Prof Chinua Achebe, it is not until the lion writes its own story, the story of the forest will always glorify the hunter. Africa must tell its story now.

Distorted map of Africa as a tool for colonial domination 

The distortion has benefited the West while hugely affecting other continents, especially Africa. Governments fail to plan accordingly, other continents form a biased visual opinion of Africa, and it instils an inferiority complex in Africans among many other effects.

The true size of Africa 

Just by representation, enlarged European and North American countries appear very powerful to countries in Africa that are bigger. It is a political tool used for intimidating other nations.

African scholars have raised concerns on the matter. Professor Makau Mutua, a Kenyan scholar posted on his Twitter account;

"In this MOMENT of HISTORICAL reckoning, everyone — especially schools — must DITCH/BURN the distorted Eurocentric map and REPLACE it with the Gall-Peters map which shows the true size of Africa. Europe, China, India, Mexico, and the US can all fit in Africa."

 

In the International world, scholars have also taken a stand against the Mercator projection of the world map. The map was drawn by a European cartographer known as Geert De Kremer.

"The term 'power of representation and representation of power' sums up quite well how maps and the rise of the Western nation-state system and with that, empire and colonialism are linked." - Marianne Franklin, Professor of Global Media and Politics at Goldsmiths University, London.

 

However, the most widely known and used projection is still the Mercator Projection which is used in schools and Google Maps.

Facts about the size of Africa

A report by CNN confirms that the Mercator map is inaccurate. In the article, many cases are cited. Among them is the size of Canada shown as a very large country covering 6 time zones. The fact is that 3 maps of Canada would perfectly fit in Africa. 

Africa has an area of 30. 37 million square kilometers, large enough to accommodate the US (9.83), China (9.60), India (3.29), Mexico (1. 96), and some other European countries. 

There are 54 countries in Africa and a population of 1. 3 billion people as of 2018. A population that is lesser than countries such as China which has 1.4 billion people.

On the other hand, India has 1.38 billion people and yet the two countries combined have a smaller size compared to the continent of Africa. Now you know exactly how big Africa is, right? 

Africa has the largest population of young people in the World which makes it an important economic market in the world. The median age was 19.7 as of 2012.

Algeria is the largest country by area and Nigeria by population. 

The continent lies along the equator, stretching from all four cardinal hemispheres.

Continentally, River Nile (4, 160 miles) is the longest river while Lake Victoria (26, 828 sq miles) is the largest lake. Mount Kilimanjaro (19, 340 feet) is the tallest mountain.

Gall-Peters world map projection 

Africa is also very rich in the rarest and most valuable mineral resources including oil and natural gas.

In conclusion, Gall-Peters among other projections is accepted as close to the exact representation of the World Map. There is no perfect map of the earth technically because the earth is a sphere and cannot be represented Accurately on a flat surface.

In the comment section, you can tell your opinion on the matter. What do you think is the main reason that Africa is often misinterpreted by the outside world?