The maps of the world that we are shown at school, no less, form our understanding of how the world works. After all, it subconsciously seems to us that there are countries located in the center of the map that play a dominant role in the world, and those who are on the periphery play a subordinate role.
There would be nothing wrong with this if we did not forget that a flat map - is just a conditional and distorted representation of a round world. And in different parts of the globe there is a completely different view of the illustration of the location of countries on the globe.
Let's figure it out!
Russia
The vertical axis of the world passes through the capital of the country. The Pacific Ocean in this version of the map is divided into two parts. The Americas and Australia huddle at the edge of the world.
Europe
The vertical axis of the world (the centering of West and East) passes through London. As in the previous version, both Americas and Australia are on the periphery, and the Pacific Ocean is not perceived as an integral space.
The equator (centering North and South) is slightly off the bottom half of the map, which is why Africa, South America, and Australia look disproportionately small relative to North America and Eurasia.
USA
In this variant of the US map takes a central role. America turns out to be an "island" washed by the Pacific Ocean from the west and the Atlantic Ocean from the east. Here the vertical axis of the world passes through the United States.
The size of North America and Eurasia is much larger in relation to South America, Africa and Australia than it is in reality. The perception of Russia, India and China is difficult, since these countries are divided into 2 parts: they are present both in the west and in the east.
China
China on its map is located on the western coast of the Pacific Ocean, which washes all continents. But Africa and Europe are on the periphery of the world.
Australia
Australians, like representatives of other countries, draw the vertical axis of the world through their mainland. But besides that, they also place it on top of all the others, flipping the card 180 degrees. Like the USA, they turn out to be an island lying between three oceans: the Pacific, the Indian and the South. Antarctica begins to play an important role, hidden at the very bottom on all other maps.
South Africa
Like Australia, South Africa is at the top, which makes it perceived as the dominant country. South Africa is a peninsula bordered by the Indian and Atlantic oceans. On the periphery of the map is Russia and the Pacific region.
However, many of us transfer the stereotypes learned through the map to our personal relationship to the real world. We begin to believe that there are countries that play a dominant role in the world, are in its center, and there are those that play a subordinate role, are on its periphery.
As will be seen below, in different countries - Russia, Europe, USA, China, Australia, Chile, South Africa - world maps are very different. It all depends on what the author of the map chooses in each of the following three conditions: 1) how to center the map relative to West and East; 2) how to center the map relative to North and South; 3) which projection method to use.
The vertical axis of the world (the centering of the West and the East) passes through Moscow. The Americas and Australia are on the periphery of the world. The Pacific Ocean is not perceived as an integral space.
The vertical axis of the world passes through London. As for the Russian map, here both Americas and Australia are on the periphery of the world, and the Pacific Ocean is not perceived as an integral space. In addition, the equator (centering the Server and the South) is shifted to the bottom half of the map, making Africa, South America, and Australia appear smaller in relation to North America and Eurasia than they really are.
The vertical axis of the world passes through the USA. America turns out to be an "island" washed by the Pacific Ocean from the west and the Atlantic Ocean from the east. As in the European map, here the equator is shifted to the lower half of the map, which makes the size of North America and Eurasia much larger in relation to the size of South America, Africa and Australia than they are in reality. In addition, the perception of Russia, India and China becomes more difficult for an American: these countries are present for an American twice? - in the west and in the east.
China on its map is located on the western coast of the Pacific Ocean. All the continents have access to this ocean, except for Africa and Europe, which thus find themselves on the periphery of the world.
There is a general stereotype that what is above dominates, and what is below? -? Is in a subordinate position. The Australians not only draw the vertical axis of the world through their mainland, they also place it on top of all others, turning the map 180 degrees. Like the USA, they turn out to be an island lying between three oceans: the Pacific, the Indian and the South. Another important role begins to play Antarctica, hidden at the very bottom on all other maps.
South Africa, like Australia, is at the top, not the bottom of the map, which makes it perceived as a country that dominates all others. South Africa turns out to be a peninsula wedged between two oceans: the Indian and the Atlantic. The Pacific region and Russia go to the periphery of the world.
This map of the world was developed by order of the Military Geographical Institute with the aim of further implementation in school textbooks. Like the Australian map, this one is also upside down, making Chile immediately dominant in the world. The Pacific Ocean is in the center of the map, and this is directly related to the voiced policy of modern Chile, who want to become one of the important business centers in the Pacific region. In this regard, Chile is somewhat similar to China. In the same way, Africa and Europe find themselves on the periphery of the world.
28/03/2011
Remember, in our schools in the geography classroom there was a map of the world. Probably, many of you could not even imagine that she could look somehow different, but when I saw this, something broke in my perception.
AT
It's very simple: that's how Americans see the world. As a friend who lives in New York told me, they have such cards in schools. She herself first saw such a map at a language school. When she asked the teacher what was wrong with the map, he replied: what is wrong with it?They will probably also be very surprised when they see that on our maps Russia is not cut in half, and the United States is not in the center, as it should be.
Map of Australia: there is no Antarctica here at all!
But here there is. Maybe they walk there on their heads, as Alice from Wonderland imagined?
This is a map of South Africa. They don’t like Antarctica either, really, why do you need white spots on the map, especially when they are so vast and bigger than your country?))
This is a Chinese map. The principle is the same as on other maps: your country in the middle of the world!
I will supplement the post with one interesting statement of the LJ reader elle_812. When she saw these cards, she remembered one interesting conversation:
“When I didn’t live here yet, but was at the MSPS retreat in Paris, we met with the ex-Secretary General of the Council of Europe Catherine Lalumiere. It was from her that I learned that in French textbooks the geographical map looks like this: in the center - France, and on the sides - all other countries.
"When I first saw a map of the world in Russia with Russia in the center, and when I saw its size in relation to other countries, I was really shocked, because we are used to from school that Russia is there, somewhere on the side, on the edge (à côté), with Siberia and snows..." - I'm showing you the words of Catherine Lalumière from my old notebook."
The French vision of the world map, to be honest, is not very different from the Soviet ones, apparently the geographical proximity of the countries, relative to Australia, South Africa and the same America, affects. But I found one interesting map, though it is a hundred years old, the way the French at that time saw the location of the peoples on the planet. Take a look at the territory of Russia, it turns out that then Russian-Siberians lived with us, on the territory of Kazakhstan - the Turks (apparently Turkic-speaking peoples), on the islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaido - the Ainu. I wonder if they still live on Sakhalin?
Means "entrance to the lakes" - in this place, an extensive network of rivers and lakes flows into the ocean, creating ideal conditions for fishing.
Indeed, there were quite a few fishing trawlers on the pier at Lakes Entrance, which immediately sold fresh fish and shrimp. Almost all vacationers in this place in Victoria could see a boat, many hotels have corners with tables for cutting fish.
Well, where there are fish, there are pelicans.
And the fishermen...
In general, apart from fish and a couple of beaches, there is nothing special to see in Lakes Entrance, except for the private maritime museum Griffiths Sea Shell Museum, where you could find just tons of different types of shells, alcoholized and dried fish and other marine reptiles.
Not far from Lakes Entrance are the Buchan Caves.
Well, after visiting the caves, it was nice to skip a mug of local beer at the Bullant Brewery.
25 Aug 2012 12:12
We were already in Canberra in 2008, stopping by for a couple of days on our way to Sydney. Then we saw that there are many places in the city that can be visited in a few days.
Before leaving Canberra we visited the Australian Parliament building. There were several police officers at the entrance, who let visitors through the frame, like in airports. After walking through the halls and offices, visiting the green roof, we drove on...
15 Aug 2012 02:10
The Economist Intelligence Unit consulting group has published its top cities in the world and Melbourne topped it for the second year in a row.
The top ten cities look like this:
great ocean road
Jun 20, 2012 03:02 AM
Last December we took a ride on the Great Ocean Road and just yesterday added everything from that trip.
You can drive the whole road in one day, if you leave early in the morning, stop not everywhere, but return directly along the highway. In order not to rush into sightseeing, we stopped for a couple of nights right in the middle of the road, in the town of Port Campbell (Summer's Rest Units).
On the first day it was cloudy, so we had to put on jackets, but on the second day the sun came out and it became much more fun.
A few places we visited:
Despite s18(1) of the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), I agree and acknowledge that any message Vodafone sends me will not contain an unsubscribe facility. I understand that I can, at any time, opt out of receiving marketing material by contacting Vodafone Customer Care.
In general, Australian laws may not be followed, the main thing is to report this in small print.
23 Feb 2012 05:13
She received the surname "Macpherson" from her stepfather, Neil MacPherson.
Thanks to her ideal body proportions (90-61-89), at the age of 18, El signed the first contract with the famous Click Model Management modeling agency.
In 1985, El decides to marry the photographer and creative director of Elle magazine Gilles Bensimon, who was 20 years older than McPherson. Through her marriage, El appeared in every issue of Elle magazine for six years.
Elle was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1986. By that time, she had already been on the covers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Playboy. El also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated six times during her career.
In 1989, McPherson and Bensimon divorced, and along with her husband, Elle lost her largest employer, Elle magazine. This period in the girl's career and life is not easy, but Elle pulls herself together and decides to move on.
Elle MacPherson in the movie "On the Edge"
In 1990, the first film with the participation of a famous model, Alice, directed by Woody Allen, was released. Then she plays in several films: "Sirens" (with Hugh Grant), "Batman and Robin" (with George Clooney), "On the Edge" (with Anthony Hopkins) and others.
Also in 1990, MacPherson launched her Elle Macpherson Intimates underwear line, which is sold exclusively in Australia.
In 1995, together with supermodel friends, El opened the Fashion Café restaurant chain, which did not become profitable and was closed in 1998.
In 1999, Elle MacPherson starred in five episodes of the hit series Friends.
Elle was engaged to French financier Arpad Busson in 2003, with whom she had two sons, Flynn in 1998 and Cy in 2003.
In 2005, the couple broke up, and today Elle lives in London with her children.
Smile!
22 Feb 2012 02:08I'm reading today in the local newspaper about what to do when traveling, and I see this advice:
smile. always smile.It "ll get you places you wouldn't believe. From persuading Parisian waiters to speak English to figuring out where the hell you"re supposed to be sitting on that train, a little smile and a good attitude will get you help in no time. NB: There"s an exception to this rule – it "s called Russia. (They" ll think you "re mad.)
In translation:
Smile! Always smile.
It will open up so many new opportunities for you that you never dreamed of. For example, a waiter from Paris will suddenly speak English, or you will finally find that fucking seat on the train - just smile a little and act accordingly.
One exception to this rule is Russia. They will think you are crazy.
From childhood, we see maps of the world, we are shown them at school, thereby creating in children an idea of how our planet looks like, what countries are on it and where they are located. All this is correct and good, however, a flat map is still only a conventional and often quite distorted flat image of a round world.
And it turns out that many people build a personal relationship to the real world, focusing on the stereotypes reflected in the cards. It suddenly turns out that there are countries that dominate the world map, as if being in its center, and there are other countries, they are on the periphery and play a kind of subordinate role.
Next, we will show you that world maps in different countries (Russia, USA, China, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Chile) are different from each other. And it depends on the map maker, who proceeds from three conditions:
- How should such a map be centered in relation to the South and North.
- How to center it in relation to East and West.
- What kind of projection should be used.
Centering East and West, that is, on the map - the vertical axis of the world here passes through Moscow. On the periphery are the two Americas and Australia. The vast water basin of the Pacific Ocean is not defined as a homogeneous space.
Here already the vertical axis of the whole world runs clearly through London. As in the case of Russia, the two Americas and Australia seem to move to the periphery, and the Pacific Ocean is again not displayed as an integral entity. Further, the equator is slightly shifted downwards on the map (centering the South and the North). And it turns out that Australia, South America and Africa become much smaller in comparison with Eurasia and North America than in reality.
As you might guess, the axis of the world (vertical) runs clearly through the United States. If you carefully look at this map, it will become noticeable that America is like an "island" here, which is washed by the Atlantic Ocean from the east, and the Pacific Ocean from the west. The equator, as on the map of Europe, is shifted down, so Eurasia and North America seem to be much larger than Australia, Africa and South America. It also prevents Americans from properly perceiving the size and shape on the map of Russia, China and India, because they seem to be torn apart and are present twice - in the east and in the west.
The Chinese made their map in such a way that their country was on the western coast of the Pacific Ocean itself. And it turns out that almost all continents go to the Pacific Ocean, with the exception of Europe and Africa. Accordingly, Africa and Europe on the Chinese map are the periphery of the world.
A general stereotype has developed in the world that everything that is located above is in a dominant position, the same that is below is, as it were, in a subordinate position. So, the Australian map of the world is different in that the vertical axis of the world goes through their mainland. Moreover, the Australians also turn the world map 180 degrees. And then they, like the United States, become an island between 3 oceans: the Southern, Indian and Pacific. Here, already on the stage, an important role is assigned to Antarctica, which is "pushed" down on all other maps.
Like Australia, South Africa is located at the top of its map, as if it dominates all other countries. South Africa occupies the position of a peninsula, which seems to be wedged between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Russia, like the Pacific region, is on the periphery of the world.
On the Chilean map, their country also dominates the world because, just like the Australian map, the map of Chile is also upside down. Therefore, the Pacific Ocean occupies a central place on it. And this is no accident, the fact is that the policy of this country has long claimed the role of the most important business center in the Pacific Ocean. Here you can compare Chile with China - Europe and Africa on the map are on the periphery. I must say that a map of this kind was developed at the direction of the Military Institute of Geography in order to be printed in school textbooks in the future.
