NAMA : SITTI HUMAERAH KATHRUNNADA

NIM : G061211054

WEEK 7 ASSIGMENT 1

People's Ideas About World Geography

1. What happens when you ask someone to draw a map of the world? The
results can be very interesting. Few people, in fact, have a very accurate idea of
what the world looks like. You might expect some mistakes in the positions of
the countries. After all, this is a task that requires a certain skill with a pencil and
a good memory. But many people do not even know the relative size of the
continents. They tend to enlarge them or make them smaller, according to their
point of view. For this reason,

the home continent is often drawn too large. A Brazilian, for example, tends to enlarge

the continent of South America, while a Vietnamese enlarges Asia.

Topic : world map hand drawn

Main idea :Usually hand drawn maps don't show the exact size of the continents

2. Another common error is the tendency to make Europe too large and
Africa too small. People from all parts of the world tend to draw the world this
way, including the Africans!There are several factors that may be involved here.
One factor may be the influence of old maps made with the "Mercator projection.
11 This technique for drawing maps makes areas nearer the North Pole, including
Europe, seem extra large. Other areas in the middle, such as Africa, seem smaller
than reality. However, the Mercator maps also enlarge Greenland and Canada,
and people usually do not make mistakes about their size. Thus, a better
explanation must lie in people's ideas about the relative importance of the
continents. The size of Europe tends to be exaggerated

because of its importance in people's minds. Similarly, Africa becomes smaller because

people feel it is unimportant.

Topic : The misrepresentation of the continents of Europe and Africa

Main idea : On the world map When drawn by hand Europe and Africa often Described in
wrong size

3. Ignorance about the African continent has led to some enormous errors
in map making. One of the errors now seems quite incredible. In the late 18th
century, a European explorer reported seeing mountains in southern Mali. From
that report, a map maker drew in a long line of mountains. These "Kong
Mountains," as he called them, appeared on almost all maps of Africa in the 19th
century. They seemed to be an important feature of the continental geography.
 European politicians and traders made decisions based on their belief in the
existence of these mountains. Finally, in the late 1880s, a French explorer proved
that there were no mountains in that part of Africa. Only then did the "Kong
Mountains" disappear from maps of Africa.

Topic : Error on map of Africa

Main idea : Ignorance of the African continent causes Some mistakes In map
making