The Mercator projection, long the default for world maps, has faced mounting criticism for distorting the relative sizes of continents and placing Western countries at the center of attention. By stretching landmasses near the poles, the map makes Europe and North America appear disproportionately large while shrinking Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Critics argue that this visual bias reinforces Eurocentric narratives and misleads viewers about global geography. Recent debates call for alternative projections that present a more balanced view of the world.
The widely-used Mercator map is often criticised for visually exaggerating and centralising Western nations.
