The True Size of Africa

I'm no cartographer, so I can't comment on its accuracy—but this alternative visualization of the size of the African continent compared to various world nations is thought-provoking. No, Africa's not a country, but it's interesting to compare the land mass to countries perceived as more powerful.

As BB commenter jetfx notes, "A pity the creator of this image doesn't list what projection he used, because without knowing that, we don't know what hidden distortions are in his map."

Greg Osuri, via Treehugger. You can download a hi-rez version here.

(thanks Chris Tackett, via BB Submitterator)

Update: Looks like Osuri spent some time carefully calculating total land mass, so the image here seems visually representative. Some thoughtful Boing Boing comments below.