End of Year Geography Quiz, Question 18:

[gh]

18. Which is larger - North America or South America?

[observer2]

I would say North with South not far behind?

[DrJay]

I'd guess North, but the classic Mercator map projection we usually see magnifies things the further north one goes, making NA look bigger than it is (nod to Yogi Berra?).

[DrJay]

A trickier question might be Africa vs. NA, as NA sure looks bigger (Mercator) but I think it is smaller.

[Marlow]

I'd guess North, but the classic Mercator map projection we usually see magnifies things the further north one goes, making NA look bigger than it is (nod to Yogi Berra?).

You mean Alaska is NOT the size of S. America??!! :shock:

[wineturtle]

South

[gh]

I'd guess North, but the classic Mercator map projection we usually see magnifies things the further north one goes, making NA look bigger than it is (nod to Yogi Berra?).

But doesn't Mercator do the same thing in the south?

[tandfman]

It does, but North America is much more north than South America is south. If you lopped off everything south of 49 degrees south latitude, you'd be removing only a very small portion of Argentina and Chile. Do that with everything north of 49 degrees north latitude and you're removing Alaska and most of Canada.

[DrJay]

I'd guess North, but the classic Mercator map projection we usually see magnifies things the further north one goes, making NA look bigger than it is (nod to Yogi Berra?).

But doesn't Mercator do the same thing in the south?

Uh, yeah, I must admit I had some notion that that projection did something different going north vs. going south, but tandfman clarified the real reason. ops:

[gh]

18. North America is 9.3 million square miles; South America is 6.8 million square miles.