https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Thematkinson 2026-04-30T06:44:54Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1500:_Upside-Down_Map&diff=86555 2015-03-18T10:00:16Z

<p>Thematkinson: </p> <hr /> <div>What's the point? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.173|108.162.249.173]] 09:59, 18 March 2015 (UTC)<br /> Australia is still the &quot;right&quot; way up!</div>

Thematkinson https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1500:_Upside-Down_Map&diff=86553 2015-03-18T09:58:39Z

<p>Thematkinson: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1500<br /> | date = March 18, 2015<br /> | title = Upside-Down Map<br /> | image = upside_down_map.png<br /> | titletext = Due to their proximity across the channel, there's long been tension between North Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Southern Ireland.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> People often say that maps with the south pole at the top will change your perspective. This map is a comedic play on that where instead of the whole map being upside-down, each land mass is in the same position it would be in a traditional north-top map but rotated to the orientation it would have in a south-top map. To keep their familiar shapes on a rectangular map, the continents would also have to be heavily distorted compared to their actual shapes, becoming much narrower (along the lines of latitude) near the poles and wider towards the equator.<br /> <br /> The title text references the fact that in this new map, the UK is now next to Asia. Further, Northern Ireland is now at the south of the island of Ireland, so the UK's full name would need to change to The United Kingdom of Great Britain and SOUTHERN Ireland.<br /> <br /> Notice that Cuba is now off the east (formerly west) coast of Canada, and Japan is in the Arctic Ocean. Madagascar lies next to Mauretania, and it is doubtful whether the Taiwanese get along any better with the French than with the mainland Chinese.<br /> <br /> This arrangement of the world's land masses would have great advantages for trade, because there are (presumably navigable) straits between the Americas and between Africa and Asia, removing the need for the Panama and Suez canals.<br /> <br /> An additional consideration is that Australia has remained &quot;the right way up&quot;. This may be due to fact that Australia is (jokingly) considered to be upside down on the bottom of Earth, therefore when all the continents are flipped it is now &quot;the right way up&quot;.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Map of the world with all the landmasses upside-down.]<br /> <br /> :[Below the main frame:]<br /> :The Upside-Down Map will change your perspective of the world!<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Geography]]</div>

Thematkinson