Would somebody tell the Donald about Mercator, please!

 

While it’s well known that the Mercator projection distorts the world, this maps clearly shows by how much. Countries close to the equator barely change, whereas countries further north shrink dramatically.

Would somebody please tell the Donald that, at 2.16 million square kilometres, Greenland is actually only roughly a quarter of the size of the US and roughly a third of Australia, which may influence his desire to buy it. Of course, there are also the rare minerals that are rumoured to be hidden below Greenland's ice, not to mention the geopolitical implications - can you image the geopolitical pickle the USA would be in today if American president Andrew Johnson hadn't purchased Alaska in 1867 from the Russian Empire for $US7.2 million, less than $US242 million ($AUD383 million) in today's currency?

 

There's a popular conception about the purchase of Alaska, which occurred some 150 years ago. Russia had a toehold on its American colony but the company in charge of the possession wasn't turning a profit. So it was offered for sale to then-Secretary of State William Seward at a bargain price. Seward bought it and hilarity ensued. Americans mocked the purchase as little more than a frozen wasteland and derided Seward. Little more came of it until the Gold Rush three decades later. . . .

 

If you're interested in that real estate deal - at two cents per acre the cheapest land deal in history - buy yourself a copy of Lee A. Farrow's "Seward's Folly" - unless Donald Trump has already bought the last copy.

 

 

Googlemap Riverbend