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Description

A projection of how the Earth would appear if it were a flat disk.

Projecting a sphere's surface onto a flat plane causes it to be distorted slightly, along with the fact that Earth bulges around the equator and flattens on the poles due to its rotation. This is why the landmasses appear misshapen.
A common misconception is that Columbus discovered the Earth was round. People actually thought it was round from as far back as 600 B.C. An early experiment done with measuring shadows cast by poles several hundred miles apart allowed calculation of Earth's circumference with, for the time, incredibly accuracy.

Description

A projection of how the Earth would appear if it were a flat disk.

Projecting a sphere's surface onto a flat plane causes it to be distorted slightly, along with the fact that Earth bulges around the equator and flattens on the poles due to its rotation. This is why the landmasses appear misshapen.
A common misconception is that Columbus discovered the Earth was round. People actually thought it was round from as far back as 600 B.C. An early experiment done with measuring shadows cast by poles several hundred miles apart allowed calculation of Earth's circumference with, for the time, incredibly accuracy.