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Denominator, go Mercator
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this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026
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Crossing the globe north to south is the same distance as east to west, but since it is folded open on 2d maps it looks as if the earth is wider then it is higher. In this projection that means the map is stretched more horizontally than vertically, if i understand correctly.
Not true, the earth isn't a perfect sphere. Though I guess I'm just being nitpicky because I looked it up and it's only ~27mi/43km longer along the equator.
You're right! And yes, north to south is roughly the same distance as east to west. Subconsciously I've always felt like north to south is a quicker journey, but that was just Mercator playing a trick upon me
Nearly every projection that show the entire globe on a 2d canvas will show you a map where the horizontal distance is almost double the vertical distance, so it is very correct that a journey from the top to the bottom is much shorter than from the most left to the most right.