The ‘Upside Down’ Map


(Source: HERE. Click on the map to enlarge.)

Here is how one person describes his reaction to his first seeing this map:

It came as a surprise to me after over 20 years of seeing “normal” world maps to come across an upside down one. The most surprising thing was that I found it surprising. It is completely artificial that we have North at the top of a map.

The convention came a few centuries ago when Northern hemisphere, European navigators started using the North star and the magnetic compass. Before that, the top of the map was to the East which is where the word orientation comes from.

Read on…

Author: DanutM

Anglican theologian. Former Director for Faith and Development Middle East and Eastern Europe Region of World Vision International

2 thoughts on “The ‘Upside Down’ Map”

  1. mi-am imprimat-o pe-o pagina intreaga ca sa ma uit la ea de citeva ori pt ca exercitiul este intotdeauna folositor 🙂

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