Is Greenland as big as Africa? episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 24, 2026 · 8 MIN

Is Greenland as big as Africa?

from More or Less · host BBC Radio 4

The vast island of Greenland has found itself at the centre of a geopolitical crisis. But a little bit of geography can help us see the situation in a new light.YouTuber and map expert Jay Foreman explains how Mercator maps - the maps that the vast majority of us use to understand the world - contain necessary but massive distortions and hugely exaggerate the size of the Arctic island. So, why is making a flat map of a round globe so difficult? Why did we end up with a problematic map in the first place? And are there any alternatives?Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Nathan Gower Series Producer: Tom Colls Editor: Richard Vadon Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Engineer: James Beard

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 24, 2026

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Is Greenland as big as Africa?

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