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WorldViews

Map: If the size of countries reflected their populations

By Ishaan Tharoor The Washington Post Blogs, February 2

(TeaDranks/Reddit)

 

This map, compiled by Reddit user TeaDranks, shows what the world would look like if a country's size was proportional to its population. As you can see, our sense of geographic space gets rather radically rearranged as a result.
Vast countries such as Russia, Canada and Australia turn into small rump states and slivers of territory. The United States is home to only 5 percent of the world's population and its size suitably reflects that diminished reality. Europe, and not South Asia, appears to be the real Asian subcontinent.
What the map emphasizes is the primacy of Asia. The continent's immensity is understood in the West, but not truly appreciated. Another map that has trended on social media illustrates it even more starkly:
That, of course, is not echoed in the Western media, where crises in Europe and conflicts in the Middle East still hold far more attention. The lack of coverage of India's elections last year — the world's greatest exercise in democracy — was lampooned by comedians. And many Americans probably weren't even aware of a similar landmark vote in Indonesia, home to the world's largest population of Muslims.
Some Asian cities, as delineated on the map, are larger than most European countries.
Of course, many of these Asian countries are still struggling to cope with the demands posed by their massive populations. But as the continent boasts some of the world's most dynamic developing economies, this map is a useful illustration for why some believe the 21st century will be the Asian Century.

Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor at TIME, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.