Maps in proportion
April 12, 2010 7:06 PM Subscribe
MAPfrappe - a simple Google Maps mashup that lets you compare landmark sizes by outlining a part of the world and overlaying it on another. Iraq vs. Texas; Greenland vs. India; Tiananmen Square vs. Red Square; Devils Tower vs. White House.
Or instead of assuming, I could just read what the creator says on the page.
posted by GeckoDundee at 7:12 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by GeckoDundee at 7:12 PM on April 12, 2010
I always thought Google Maps should be able to do this anyway, with a fully-functional scale-synchronized second instance of Google Maps as a transparent overlay. This outline thing will do nicely till Google gets on that glaring omission.
posted by scrowdid at 7:24 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by scrowdid at 7:24 PM on April 12, 2010
That's pretty cool... although SCTV beat them to it!
posted by Crane Shot at 7:41 PM on April 12, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by Crane Shot at 7:41 PM on April 12, 2010 [5 favorites]
Related: Manhattan Elsewhere from Kottke, which has the island lurking past San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Minneapolis.
posted by Paragon at 7:46 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Paragon at 7:46 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Damn you Mercator Projection! The world as I know it is a lie *sobs*
posted by msbutah at 7:47 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by msbutah at 7:47 PM on April 12, 2010
Canada is really fuckin' big.
posted by unSane at 7:47 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by unSane at 7:47 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Who knew Iraq and Texas are about the same size and shape, and seem to have similar geography, with dry unpopulated regions to the west and populated regions to the central and east. Must be a Jared Diamond theory there somewhere.
posted by stbalbach at 8:05 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by stbalbach at 8:05 PM on April 12, 2010
Hey, neat tool, thanks!
Israel is not "the size of New Jersey", but it's almost exactly the size of Taiwan.
posted by Asparagirl at 8:40 PM on April 12, 2010
Israel is not "the size of New Jersey", but it's almost exactly the size of Taiwan.
posted by Asparagirl at 8:40 PM on April 12, 2010
> Canada is really fuckin' big
♫ Most people will tell you that France is pretty large
♫ But you can put 14 Frances into this land of ours
posted by Decimask at 8:57 PM on April 12, 2010
♫ Most people will tell you that France is pretty large
♫ But you can put 14 Frances into this land of ours
posted by Decimask at 8:57 PM on April 12, 2010
So L.A. + the Inland Empire is bigger than all of New York City, north New Jersey, and Long Island. Neat... sorta...
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:05 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:05 PM on April 12, 2010
This is great, thanks. Sumatra is huge -- that's Vancouver Island beside it, a 10 hour drive on a good highway end to end.
posted by Rumple at 9:07 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by Rumple at 9:07 PM on April 12, 2010
One of my local parks takes up the majority of London England.
posted by swimming naked when the tide goes out at 9:10 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by swimming naked when the tide goes out at 9:10 PM on April 12, 2010
Yay! Someone was asking me to compare the size of Guatemala to a state a few days ago, and I was trying to compensate, in my head, for map distortion, and I still came out totally wrong. So now I can have a real answer!
posted by greta simone at 9:15 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by greta simone at 9:15 PM on April 12, 2010
And, just mere hours ago, I was trying to compare the size of my Brooklyn neighborhood to my old NC hometown. Damn, metafilter, sometimes you just come in handy at just the right moment.
posted by greta simone at 9:17 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by greta simone at 9:17 PM on April 12, 2010
Well that clears up a question i've had since childhood. Oregon is totally bigger than Washington, and better too.
posted by Glibpaxman at 9:28 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by Glibpaxman at 9:28 PM on April 12, 2010
Ok, one more: the Democratic Republic of Congo is very large.
posted by washburn at 9:41 PM on April 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by washburn at 9:41 PM on April 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
Yeah, you can see why the Belgians might have wanted it.
posted by Jimbob at 9:45 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by Jimbob at 9:45 PM on April 12, 2010
Who knew Iraq and Texas are about the same size and shape, and seem to have similar geography, with dry unpopulated regions to the west and populated regions to the central and east.
Not to mention their shared affinity for fundamentalists.
/cheapshot
posted by mecran01 at 9:51 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not to mention their shared affinity for fundamentalists.
/cheapshot
posted by mecran01 at 9:51 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Finally I can put an outline of Texas into the middle of the Pacific Ocean to visualize the Texas-sized garbage patch they keep talking about. Better yet, I'm just going to slide Texas around the globe and take notes on how many things Texas can fit into and how many times.
posted by Kirk Grim at 10:03 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by Kirk Grim at 10:03 PM on April 12, 2010
I was wondering about this exact thing the other day. Now I know I drove everyday the equivalent distance between Berkley and San Francisco when I was in college, maybe a little less. Mexico City is huge.
posted by clearlydemon at 10:20 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by clearlydemon at 10:20 PM on April 12, 2010
(and Kirk: they've got you covered in my link above)
posted by Meatbomb at 10:38 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by Meatbomb at 10:38 PM on April 12, 2010
California may be only the 3rd largest U.S. state, but some of my friends from Europe don't really understand how big it is, i.e. California vs. the U.K.
posted by RichardP at 10:38 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by RichardP at 10:38 PM on April 12, 2010
Alaska v. the western U.S. Also instructive to drag it over to Europe.
posted by phliar at 11:28 PM on April 12, 2010
posted by phliar at 11:28 PM on April 12, 2010
Africa is bigger than, well, pretty much everything. Combined. Amazing.
posted by qwip at 1:54 AM on April 13, 2010
posted by qwip at 1:54 AM on April 13, 2010
Greenland thinks it looks fat in Mercator Projection.
posted by wanderingstan at 3:45 AM on April 13, 2010
posted by wanderingstan at 3:45 AM on April 13, 2010
Ever since I moved from Massachusetts to the Chicago area, I wondered how Rhode Island would look superimposed on Chicago. Wonder no more. Thanks for the link!
posted by ibmcginty at 5:58 AM on April 13, 2010
posted by ibmcginty at 5:58 AM on April 13, 2010
India is about 3.25 Tennessees wide at its widest point.
AND WE'RE BIGGER THAN TOGO! WOOOOOOO!
posted by jquinby at 8:56 AM on April 13, 2010
AND WE'RE BIGGER THAN TOGO! WOOOOOOO!
posted by jquinby at 8:56 AM on April 13, 2010
Long ago I met a fellow from Texas on a bus and we had a spirited debate about which was bigger: Texas or Alberta. I thought he was nuts, but it turns out he was right, Texas is slightly bigger. Thanks for setting me straight, Paragon! This is an awesome application of mapping technology.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:51 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by Kevin Street at 1:51 PM on April 13, 2010
This is exactly what I've been looking for for years.
posted by HumuloneRanger at 11:09 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by HumuloneRanger at 11:09 PM on April 13, 2010
Israel is almost exactly the shape and size of Lake Michigan.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:17 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:17 PM on April 13, 2010
Africa vs. North America
Continental US vs. Africa
Continental US vs. China
posted by kirkaracha at 5:09 AM on April 14, 2010
Continental US vs. Africa
Continental US vs. China
posted by kirkaracha at 5:09 AM on April 14, 2010
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posted by GeckoDundee at 7:11 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]