Question

On the Mercator map, the continental U.S. looks much larger than Australia. In reality, the continental U.S. is only about 200 miles wider than Australia. Describe how you would change the map to reflect this fact.

Answer 1

I would add a line across the country and put the length of it

Explanation:

It allows it to show the length of the country without allowing it be assumed that it is a like 10x larger country.

Answer 2

Due to the fact that the Earth has the shape of a geoid, and if you look at it from space, it will seem that the continents that are on two sides of the earth are smaller than those that are in the middle, and a flat map is a cut of one of the sides of the geoid. That's why there is such an optical illusion.