Woman Shows The Actual Scale Of The Continents, And It’s Crazier Than You Think

As we grow up, we realize that some things we’ve learned in school as kids aren’t exactly accurate. For example, we’re taught we only have five senses, but we actually have around 20 (including balance, temperature, and pain). The same can be said about something in geography class: we think we know what a world map looks like, but is our knowledge accurate?

One woman on TikTok recently reminded us that it’s not. She compared the true size of the African continent with what we usually see in our maps. Turns out, they’re wildly inaccurate, and her video soon went viral as people started questioning what’s the reason for these inaccurate maps and whether that reason could be political.

We think that the world map that we know accurately represents the size of countries and continents

A woman shows students the actual scale of continents on a globe, highlighting the true scale of continents.

Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels (not the actual photo)

But one woman exposed that Africa is often depicted as way smaller than it actually is

Text displaying the actual scale of the continents: Africa's width is 7,300 km, while Russia's width is 6,300 km.

A woman pointing to Africa on a puzzle map, illustrating the actual scale of the continents, specifically Africa's width.

Image credits: vankovajaja

A woman pointing to Russia on a puzzle map, demonstrating the actual scale of the continents, specifically Russia's width.

Image credits: vankovajaja

Text reiterating the actual scale of continents: Africa's width is 7,300 km, and Russia's width is 6,300 km.

Text overlay asking if Canada, USA, South America, Europe, Russia, China, and India represent the actual scale of continents.

A woman holding up a colorful world map puzzle, demonstrating the actual scale of the continents compared to common perceptions.

Image credits: vankovajaja

Text overlay explaining that Russia fits twice inside Africa, along with China, India, Europe, and USA, regarding continent scale.

Text overlay questioning if Africa's visual representation accurately reflects its actual scale to fit other continents.

A woman gesturing while a text overlay asks Does it look like it in there? No about the actual scale of the continents.

Image credits: vankovajaja

A detailed world map showcasing the actual scale of the continents and their geographical locations.

Image credits: US Government

These are the accurate sizes of countries compared to what is depicted in most world maps

An overlay map illustrating the actual scale of the continents, highlighting their true sizes compared to typical projections.

Image credits: engaging-data.com

This is the true size of Russia compared to Africa

A map demonstrating the actual scale of Russia, superimposed over parts of Africa and Europe, revealing its immense size.

Image credits: thetruesize

This is what the USA would look like inside Africa

A map comparing the actual scale of the United States to several countries in Central Africa, showing its relative size.

Image credits: thetruesize

Australia would also nicely fit into the northern region of Africa

A map showing the actual scale of Australia, overlaid on North Africa, emphasizing its large landmass.

Image credits: thetruesize

China could almost fit inside the continent of Africa as well

Map shows the actual scale of China superimposed on the continent of Africa, highlighting their relative sizes.

Image credits: thetruesize

Entire Europe actually looks ridiculously tiny next to Africa

Map shows the actual scale of Greenland superimposed on the continent of Africa, highlighting their relative sizes.

Image credits: thetruesize

This is the true size of the South American continent

Map shows the actual scale of South America superimposed on the continent of Africa, highlighting their relative sizes.

Image credits: thetruesize

This is how the entire continent of North America would look next to Africa

Map shows the actual scale of North America superimposed on the continent of Africa, highlighting their relative sizes.

Image credits: thetruesize

This is the entire continent of Asia compared to Africa

Map shows the actual scale of Russia superimposed on the continent of Africa, highlighting their relative sizes.

Image credits: thetruesize

That’s how Antarctica would look next to Africa

A woman shows the actual scale of continents by overlaying smaller countries onto Africa, highlighting geographical inaccuracies.

Image credits: thetruesize

The viral video garnered more than 4.7 million views

@vankovajajaFixing maps is long overdue♬ original sound – jajavankova

Some commenters offered explanations for why the world map is inaccurate; others started questioning what else they know is wrong

Anna Maye's comment: And yes, it is that deep. A woman reveals the actual scale of continents.

Feeshia's comment: It's systemic. This is what we mean. A woman reveals the actual scale of continents.

Jessica G's comment: It's Not Ignorance, it's on purpose 😡. A woman reveals the actual scale of continents.

Aaliayah Nicole's comment: Hence the term MOTHERLAND! Thank you for your service maam! A woman reveals the actual scale of continents.

Sandra comments on the actual scale of continents, wishing to see a true map of the world.

Muhammad Lucious reacts to the actual scale of continents, stating we've been lied to about everything.

Sarah comments on the actual scale of continents, wondering what to teach her kids about history now.

ReggStar reacts to the actual scale of continents, saying Welcome to American History.

Pumza Fihlani comments on the actual scale of continents, stating that it is deliberate.

A comment about the actual scale of continents, specifically Australia being the size of the United States.

A comment explaining the Mercator Projection affects the actual scale of continents and countries like Russia and Africa.

A comment from a teacher about questioning everything regarding the actual scale of continents.

A comment from a user questioning world maps after learning the Sahara Desert's actual scale.

A comment asking about New Zealand's location on a map, relating to the actual scale of continents.

A comment about the actual scale of the continents, explaining map projections are not a lie.

A comment from MoniqueRae wanting to see the actual scale of the continents the right way with accuracy.

A comment from Jennifer Ann learning about the actual scale of the continents from TikTok.

A comment from Jazmine stating disbelief in US census numbers due to the actual scale of the continents.

A comment from RaveMomFromA-Z expressing frustration about not knowing the actual scale of the continents.

A comment about the Mercator projection related to the actual scale of continents.

A comment on inaccurate maps and their political implications regarding the actual scale of continents.

A reaction comment expressing annoyance about the actual scale of the continents.