Japanese AuthaGraph ‘origami’ map hailed the most accurate ever made ‘unfolds’ the globe so countries appear the right size
The revolutionary map may look unfamiliar but it solves a centuries-old problem
THIS revolutionary world map may look unfamiliar - but it has been hailed the most accurate 2D depiction of our globe ever made.
The clever 'origami'-style technique solves a centuries-old problem of how to show a curved planet on flat paper without distorting the shape and size of the continents.
The revolutionary new design helps to bring home how distorted regular maps look in terms of demonstrating the size of countries.
Now Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa has come up with a method that involves dividing the globe into 96 triangular "tiles".
These are then "unfolded" in any direction to create a flat map of the Earth.
It is said this leaves the landmasses and oceans in their correct proportions so the world looks more or less as it really is.
Experts say it is vastly more accurate that the standard world map devised by Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
The Mercator projection became used worldwide because it is very useful for navigation, with latitude and longitude plotted on a grid.
But it squashes countries near the equator and stretches those near the poles.
This means Greenland looks almost the same size as Africa, when in fact Africa is around 14 times bigger.
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Narukawa's new map - called the AuthaGraph - aims to fix that problem by dividing the globe into 96 equal regions.
The tiles are transferred to a pyramid while keeping the correct proportions, and the pyramid unfolds into a flat map.
It can be unfolded in different directions - so North might not be at the top and Britain is not necessarily in the middle as we expect.
The result is so good it won Narukawa Japan's top design honour, the Good Design Award.
The citation says: "AuthaGraph faithfully represents all oceans and continents including the neglected Antarctica.
"These fit within a rectangular frame with no interruptions. The map can be tessellated without visible seams.
"Thus the AuthaGraphic world map provides an advanced precise perspective of our planet."
It can be improved further by increasing the number of tiles, the judges added.
Cartography fans can buy their own copy of the map - including a version that folds back up into a globe - at the AuthaGraph website.
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