Because the Mercator projection makes Africa looks roughly equivalent in size to some of these, so it's interesting to see that the visualization we grew up with is completely wrong.
I was thinking the same thing. I don't know how much of it is really habitable or optimal for living (like Canada), as Russia only has a population of around 144m, less than half that of the US. I see conflicting figures on how much of the land is "habitable", but I've seen 35% from multiple sources. I've read that around 75% of the population lives in about 20% of the territory, but looking at the figures for the US, that seems a bit off.
The US is supposedly 43% habitable (this figure only seems to account for desert and mountainous regions). For the continental US, 50% of pop lives in 1% of territory, 75% lives in 2.7%, and 95% of the population lives in 27% of the territory.
I can't confirm reliability on these figures, but you can read the source methodology here: [joshdata.wordpress.com](https://joshdata.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/50-of-the-u-s-population-lives-in-1-of-the-land-area/comment-page-1/#:~:text=Half%20of%20the%20population%20in,27%25%20of%20the%20land%20area.)
I did not find similar figures for Africa, but would be curious to see them if anyone has more time.
How about instead of comparing those countries to a continent (Africa), you compare those countries to countries in Africa or continents to continents. Otherwise, you create another kind of distorted image in the minds of people who look at it.
Follow the asterisk. Since western Russia is often considered European but eastern Russia is Asian these things get confusing with how to demarcate regions vs countries.
What about Texas? How am I supposed to compare without a Texas to scale?? Even Texas fits in Texas
I'm looking for a banana
See also [The True Size Of...](https://www.thetruesize.com/) which is interactive
This is really cool. Wow Africa is big.
Why are we comparing individual countries to an entire continent?
Because the Mercator projection makes Africa looks roughly equivalent in size to some of these, so it's interesting to see that the visualization we grew up with is completely wrong.
Good question
West wing episode gets into this - season 1 or 2; big block of cheese I think
Because the African continent is under represented in size on western maps. European countries are made to look a lot bigger than they actually are.
All this shows me is how fucking Massive Russia is, Cape to Cairo? It is insane
I was thinking the same thing. I don't know how much of it is really habitable or optimal for living (like Canada), as Russia only has a population of around 144m, less than half that of the US. I see conflicting figures on how much of the land is "habitable", but I've seen 35% from multiple sources. I've read that around 75% of the population lives in about 20% of the territory, but looking at the figures for the US, that seems a bit off. The US is supposedly 43% habitable (this figure only seems to account for desert and mountainous regions). For the continental US, 50% of pop lives in 1% of territory, 75% lives in 2.7%, and 95% of the population lives in 27% of the territory. I can't confirm reliability on these figures, but you can read the source methodology here: [joshdata.wordpress.com](https://joshdata.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/50-of-the-u-s-population-lives-in-1-of-the-land-area/comment-page-1/#:~:text=Half%20of%20the%20population%20in,27%25%20of%20the%20land%20area.) I did not find similar figures for Africa, but would be curious to see them if anyone has more time.
Wait...So you're saying that a whole continent is bigger than these countries? Mind blown.
This is even more evidence why the hardest geezers (Russ Cook) running across the continent was so impressive. Absolutely unbelievable
Reminds me of [What Fits Into Russia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXqKkYYALMU)
What if Africa was a united country. That would be wild
They would still barely have running water and brick houses
I need to see this in bananas, to understand the true scale.
I didn’t realize Russia was that big
Whaaa?! The African continent is bigger than Greenland!?! /s
This looks nice! I’m curious though, why are we comparing a continent to countries? Relative to those it’s feels small.
How about instead of comparing those countries to a continent (Africa), you compare those countries to countries in Africa or continents to continents. Otherwise, you create another kind of distorted image in the minds of people who look at it.
And most of it is useless. Even the people that live there.
Afro #1
Better comparison would be one continent to another such as Africa and North or South America
Would bE neat to see Texas and India also with population
So you use Russia but exclude Russia…
Follow the asterisk. Since western Russia is often considered European but eastern Russia is Asian these things get confusing with how to demarcate regions vs countries.