Ask HN: Which common map projections make Greenland look smaller?

Posted by jimnotgym 4 days ago

Counter18Comment17OpenOriginal

I see an urgent need for a map projection that makes Greenland look as small as possible. What are the options?

Comments

Comment by al_borland 4 days ago

I’m not sure what your intent is, but I think the interest in Greenland is more about location than size.

This projection makes it look small, but highlights how Greenland sits right between Russia and the lower 48 of the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_map_projections#/media...

Comment by code_martial 3 days ago

It looks like there’s Canada to cross before reaching the US. Am I missing something?

Comment by Waterluvian 3 days ago

Download QGIS and you can just play with hundreds of projections. If you want Greenland as small as possible, pick a conical or planar projection meant for the southern hemisphere. It’ll pretty much stop existing if done right. If done wrong, it’ll grow to gargantuan proportions and surround us all. But I’m sure you’ve got additional criteria.

(Horray I reached my annual use of my geography degrees early this year!)

Comment by nephihaha 3 days ago

Not exactly a map projection, but on this site you can move countries (including Greenland on its own) onto other parts of the world for comparison. You can see that Greenland still looks pretty massive when you move it further south

https://thetruesize.com/

Comment by tetris11 3 days ago

https://earth.nullschool.net/

Scroll down and choose a projection

Comment by dlcarrier 3 days ago

A conformal conic projection centered around the north pole would draw subequatorial land at a larger scale than Greenland. It doesn't affect the first three rules of real estate, though: location, location, and location

Comment by recursivecaveat 4 days ago

I suggest the Goode Homolosine, which thinks so little of Greenland that it bisects it.

Comment by deeg 4 days ago

I've found the Peters projection to be good and fascinating

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection

Comment by jimnotgym 4 days ago

Now I just need to get a copy to the Whitehouse...

Comment by dragonwriter 4 days ago

Note when discussing US politics:

This is the Whitehouse: https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/

This is the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/

They are not the same.

Comment by yellowapple 4 days ago

And once upon a time whitehouse.com was neither ;)

Comment by rsynnott 3 days ago

No, then he'll want to buy the Sahara Desert or something.

Comment by iberator 3 days ago

What's Whitehouse?

Comment by dyingkneepad 4 days ago

Comment by grim_io 4 days ago

Well-played, well-meaning presidential advisor!

Comment by 1attice 3 days ago

Globes are real. Remember globes? Hand him one

Comment by chistev 4 days ago

The ones that make Africa look small.