Where did that continent go?

October 29, 2009 1:39 AM

Is there any technical reason why Antarctica often gets left off world maps?
posted by WhackyparseThis to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

Best answer: On a standard Mercator projection, it takes up way too much space for how useful it is, and it looks way bigger than it actually is. If you're selling maps to the public, you want a map that is pretty and has as much information about the places people care about as possible. If you include Antarctica on your map, you're giving up about 20% of the map to a place that most people aren't as interested in as they are the places where people live. If you leave of Antarctica, or shave parts of it off, you can have the same size map and bigger pictures of the other continents.
posted by bluejayk at 1:51 AM on October 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Nobody lives there (except The Thing).
posted by randomstriker at 2:35 AM on October 29, 2009 [4 favorites]

As bluekayk said, I would assume that it has to do with the type and intended use of the map.

UTM, for example, is invalid above 84°N and below 80°S - if you look at the zones in this image, you'll see that a good bit of the interior of Antarctica is outside the standard zones. There is a system intended for use above 84°N and below 80°S, at the poles - UPS, which is not intended for use in world maps (iirc).

...that said, UTM itself isn't all that great for world maps, intended for larger-scale maps (better detail, landmasses look larger, etc).

I'm sure someone else with a better answer will come along shortly :)
posted by neewom at 3:21 AM on October 29, 2009

On just about every common projection, it ends up as a long strip at the bottom of the map.
This shows that flat projections of spheres are stupid, so map makers tend to leave it off the map.
A static map cannot show the shape of Antarctica anyway - it changes shape day by day as ice melts and freezes in a cyclic pattern around the year.
posted by w0mbat at 3:33 AM on October 29, 2009

FWIW, Antarctica is perfectly clear on the Fuller Projection - my personal favourite, if a little quirky due to its non-rectangular-ness.
posted by Mwongozi at 4:47 AM on October 29, 2009 [4 favorites]

It doesn't show up on maps of political boundaries because it lacks any governmental authority (by treaty and the fact that there's only maybe a hundred scientists/engineers there).
posted by cmiller at 5:41 AM on October 29, 2009