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VIDEO: Here’s what is wrong about the most popular map of the world

LITTLETON, CO - MAY 10: Pins in a map mark the origins of immigrants who have received assistance at the Immigrant Resources Center on May 10, 2011 in Littleton, Colorado. The center has more than 400 community volunteers assisting the immigrant community south of Denver. The majority of immigrants visiting the center are from Latin America, although increasingly more Asians have sought assisance ahead of their U.S. citizenship exam. In a speech that U.S. President Barack Obama gave on the U.S.-Mexico border he provoked the Republican party to take on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. The program, established six-years ago, is intended to help with the integration of immigrants into the community. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
LITTLETON, CO - MAY 10: Pins in a map mark the origins of immigrants who have received assistance at the Immigrant Resources Center on May 10, 2011 in Littleton, Colorado. The center has more than 400 community volunteers assisting the immigrant community south of Denver. The majority of immigrants visiting the center are from Latin America, although increasingly more Asians have sought assisance ahead of their U.S. citizenship exam. In a speech that U.S. President Barack Obama gave on the U.S.-Mexico border he provoked the Republican party to take on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. The program, established six-years ago, is intended to help with the integration of immigrants into the community. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
March 23, 2017

If you want an accurate view of the world, think twice before reaching for the Mercator projection. Its the most popular map of the world, but it’s also one of the most deceptive ones.

»RELATED: The new Google Maps tracker will ruin your lies about being late

Although its widely used in classrooms across the globe and even by Google, the sizes of many of the states and countries are a bit off-base.

For example, Greenland appears to be the same size as Africa when it’s barely the size of Algeria, and Alaska seems to be bigger than Brazil when it’s only one-fifth of the country.

So why the confusion? To fit everything on a flat map, the spherical earth has to be distorted. That’s what causes the misconstruction.

There are a few other projections that hit the mark a little better. Check out the Business Insider video below to learn about them.

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