1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones - Revision history

Msacuthbert: /* Table */ Hawaii is not a territory :-)

2025-09-22T17:37:13Z

‎Table: Hawaii is not a territory :-)

Msacuthbert: update for 2023 time zone changes.

2025-09-22T17:32:08Z

update for 2023 time zone changes.

172.71.146.58: /* Omissions */ Kosovo is actually drawn. Confusion could've been had with Albania (also there, almost split in half by Northern Macedonia)

2025-04-21T20:03:07Z

‎Omissions: Kosovo is actually drawn. Confusion could've been had with Albania (also there, almost split in half by Northern Macedonia)

162.158.134.234: /* Table */ see previous edit

2024-06-17T06:50:58Z

‎Table: see previous edit

162.158.134.234: /* Table */ Crimea is a recognized part of Ukraine, see https://press.un.org/en/2014/ga11493.doc.htm.

2024-06-17T06:34:59Z

‎Table: Crimea is a recognized part of Ukraine, see https://press.un.org/en/2014/ga11493.doc.htm.

141.101.98.134 at 11:31, 15 December 2023

2023-12-15T11:31:01Z

172.71.250.95: /* Table */

2023-10-25T08:54:28Z

‎Table

172.71.250.95: /* Table */

2023-10-25T08:52:39Z

‎Table

FaviFake at 08:44, 18 August 2023

2023-08-18T08:44:06Z

141.101.98.43: /* Time zone map overlayed the comic */

2023-08-16T11:02:52Z

‎Time zone map overlayed the comic

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 ** On the east coast is the island of Newfoundland at UTC-3:30, which is marked with an asterisk; in the map it is depicted more eastward due to the extra half-hour difference.  Also, the southeastern tip of Labrador shares the UTC-3:30 time zone, though not marked with an asterisk, it is stretched out to line up with the island of Newfoundland.
 |-
-| {{w|United States}} || UTC+10, UTC+12, UTC-12 &ndash; UTC-4 || Alaska appears thinner than usual, and Texas' coast has been smushed. || Usage of time zones in U.S. territories is {{w|Time_in_the_United_States|complicated}}. The contiguous United States use times zones from UTC-5 (East Coast) to UTC-8 (West Coast), the State of {{w|Alaska}} uses UTC-9, and {{w|Puerto Rico}} uses UTC-4. These are the only parts shown on Randall's map. Other territories, not shown on the map, use the following time zones:
+| {{w|United States}} || UTC+10, UTC+12, UTC-12 &ndash; UTC-4 || Alaska appears thinner than usual, and Texas' coast has been smushed. || Usage of time zones in U.S. territories is {{w|Time_in_the_United_States|complicated}}. The contiguous United States use times zones from UTC-5 (East Coast) to UTC-8 (West Coast), the State of {{w|Alaska}} uses UTC-9, and {{w|Puerto Rico}} uses UTC-4. These are the only parts shown on Randall's map. Other territories and Hawaii, not shown on the map, use the following time zones:
 * {{w|United States Virgin Islands}} use UTC-4.
 * {{w|Navassa Island}} and the disputed {{w|Bajo Nuevo Bank}} and {{w|Serranilla Bank}} use UTC-5.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 Conceptually, the series is a comment on the fact that there is no perfect way to draw a map of the world on a flat piece of paper. Each one will introduce a different type of distortion, and the best projection for a given situation is sometimes very disputed. Randall previously explored 12 different projections in [[977: Map Projections]], and expressed his disdain for some types he sees as less efficient but whose users feel superior. None of them are really good as any 2D map projection will always distort in a way the spherical reality, and a map projection that is useful for one aspect (like navigation, geographical shapes and masses visualization, etc.) will not be so for all the others. Local maps of smaller areas can be quite accurate, but the idea of both these map projection comics is to map the entire globe on a flat surface.
-Time zones are based on the way the Sun shines on the Earth, so these time zones, which are based on the sun's position in the sky, would best be divided by roughly longitudinal (North-to-South Pole) lines. However, this is not the case in practice, as the defined time zones tend to have very jagged boundaries, and furthermore some countries use a completely different time than the zones they are in, at least for some parts (see {{w|China}}). Since Randall knows he cannot fix the boundaries of the time zones, he instead "fixes" the world by making a map appear to match up with the time zone system, as shown in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/1799_Map_with_Labeled_time_zones.PNG this map], also posted in the [[#Map with Labeled time zones|trivia]]. This results in bizarre distortions such as the large, gum-like strands of {{w|Greenland}} (these are the towns of {{w|Danmarkshavn}} (UTC) and {{w|Ittoqqortoormiit}} (UTC-1), which use different time zones to the rest of the island) and three enormous gulfs in {{w|Russia}} (some time zones in Russia are only used in southern areas, leaving two-hour differences between some adjacent areas on the country's northern border).  See also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5b/1799_overlay.png this map] with a [[#Time zone map overlayed the comic|time zone map overlayed the comic]].
+Time zones are based on the way the Sun shines on the Earth, so these time zones, which are based on the sun's position in the sky, would best be divided by roughly longitudinal (North-to-South Pole) lines. However, this is not the case in practice, as the defined time zones tend to have very jagged boundaries, and furthermore some countries use a completely different time than the zones they are in, at least for some parts (see {{w|China}}). Since Randall knows he cannot fix the boundaries of the time zones, he instead "fixes" the world by making a map appear to match up with the time zone system, as shown in [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/1799_Map_with_Labeled_time_zones.PNG this map], also posted in the [[#Map with Labeled time zones|trivia]]. This results in bizarre distortions such as the large, gum-like strands of {{w|Greenland}} (which are towns that at the time used different time zones from the rest of the island: {{w|Danmarkshavn}} (UTC) and {{w|Ittoqqortoormiit}} (UTC-1 until 2023)) and three enormous gulfs in {{w|Russia}} (some time zones in Russia are only used in southern areas, leaving two-hour differences between some adjacent areas on the country's northern border).  See also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5b/1799_overlay.png this map] with a [[#Time zone map overlayed the comic|time zone map overlayed the comic]].
 The effect of this map is to "punish" large countries with a single time zone - for instance, China, which uses UTC+8 across the whole country - and countries that share large time zones - for instance, almost all of {{w|Europe}} is packed into the Central European UTC+1 zone - by shrinking these down. Conversely, countries that use multiple time zones without filling them out are stretched out - for example, the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} (DRC) and {{w|Mongolia}}, as pointed out in the title text - as are slim countries that do not fill out the full width of their time zones but where their neighbors use different timezones so they have to fill the entire width of their time zone. For instance {{w|Finland}} (also mentioned in the title text) and the {{w|Baltic countries}}, who look huge because their western and eastern neighbors do not use the UTC+2 Eastern Europe time, and thus have to fill out the distance between the countries that are pushed to the zones on their east/west borders.

@@ Line 501: / Line 501: @@
 Some countries and territories are missing from the map. Most of these omissions are undoubtedly deliberate, but some are likely mistakes.
-* Countries supposedly too small to show on the map's scale are omitted. These include small European countries: {{w|Andorra}}, {{w|Kosovo}}, {{w|Liechtenstein}}, {{w|Luxembourg}}, {{w|Malta}}, {{w|Monaco}}, {{w|San Marino}} and the {{w|Vatican City}}, {{w|Djibouti}} in Africa, {{w|Singapore}} in Asia.
+* Countries supposedly too small to show on the map's scale are omitted. These include small European countries: {{w|Andorra}}, {{w|Liechtenstein}}, {{w|Luxembourg}}, {{w|Malta}}, {{w|Monaco}}, {{w|San Marino}} and the {{w|Vatican City}}, {{w|Djibouti}} in Africa, {{w|Singapore}} in Asia.
 * All the Pacific Ocean isles, including {{w|Hawaii}}.
 * All Atlantic and Indian Ocean isles excluding {{w|Sri Lanka}} and {{w|Madagascar}}.

@@ Line 184: / Line 184: @@
 | {{w|Poland}} (Pol.) || UTC+1 || ||
 |-
-| {{w|Ukraine}} || UTC+2 (UTC+3 in disputed regions) || Crimea stretched away from the rest of the country. || Since the {{w|annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation}}, the peninsula has used Moscow time (UTC+3). Crimea is an an internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, but it is currently ''de facto'' controlled by Russia, and Randall colors it like Russia. Two breakaway provinces in the east, Donetsk and Luhansk, also use Moscow time. These are not shown.
+| {{w|Ukraine}} || UTC+2 (UTC+3 in occupied regions) || Crimea stretched away from the rest of the country. || Since the {{w|annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation}}, the peninsula has used Moscow time (UTC+3). Crimea is an an internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, but it is currently ''de facto'' controlled by Russia, and Randall colors it like Russia. Two breakaway provinces in the east, Donetsk and Luhansk, also use Moscow time. These are not shown.
 |-
 | {{w|France}} || UTC+1 || ||

@@ Line 184: / Line 184: @@
 | {{w|Poland}} (Pol.) || UTC+1 || ||
 |-
-| {{w|Ukraine}} || UTC+2 (UTC+3 in disputed regions) || Crimea stretched away from the rest of the country. || Since the {{w|annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation}}, the peninsula has used Moscow time (UTC+3). The sovereignty of Crimea is disputed, but it is currently ''de facto'' controlled by Russia, and Randall colors it like Russia. Two breakaway provinces in the east, Donetsk and Luhansk, also use Moscow time. These are not shown.
+| {{w|Ukraine}} || UTC+2 (UTC+3 in disputed regions) || Crimea stretched away from the rest of the country. || Since the {{w|annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation}}, the peninsula has used Moscow time (UTC+3). Crimea is an an internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, but it is currently ''de facto'' controlled by Russia, and Randall colors it like Russia. Two breakaway provinces in the east, Donetsk and Luhansk, also use Moscow time. These are not shown.
 |-
 | {{w|France}} || UTC+1 || ||

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:31, 15 December 2023
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	{{incomplete\|[[#Table of countries and their time zones\|Table]] now has all relevant countries and is sortable. But needs to be filled out for each country with explanation of its time zone and why it looks as it does on the map. (Especially those from title text needs explanation like that). Some of the info already given in the explanation could be moved to the table.}}
	This is the second comic in the series of [[:Category:Bad Map Projections\|Bad Map Projections]] and presents Bad map projection #79: Time Zones. It was first with this comic that it became a series. The series began a month earlier with [[1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize]] (#107). It was followed almost three years later with [[2256: Bad Map Projection: South America]] (#358).		This is the second comic in the series of [[:Category:Bad Map Projections\|Bad Map Projections]] and presents Bad map projection #79: Time Zones. It was first with this comic that it became a series. The series began a month earlier with [[1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize]] (#107). It was followed almost three years later with [[2256: Bad Map Projection: South America]] (#358).

@@ Line 157: / Line 157: @@
 | {{w|Norway}} || UTC+1 ||Moved east and tilted more upright to fit in UTC&plusmn;1 ||
 |-
-| {{w|Sweden}} || UTC+1 ||Squashed and moved east to make room for Norway obliterating the Baltic sea ||
+| {{w|Sweden}} || UTC+1 ||Squashed and moved east to make room for Norway obliterating the Gulf of Bothnia and severely shrinking the Baltic sea ||
 |-
 | {{w|Finland}} || UTC+2 || Stretched horizontally because it borders Norway on the north, which uses UTC+1. ||

@@ Line 155: / Line 155: @@
 | {{w|Iceland}} || UTC&plusmn;0 || No shape distortions, but different location. || Iceland, even if it geographically lies mostly within the UTC-1 time zone, uses UTC&plusmn;0. It is therefore moved east on Randall's map.
 |-
-| {{w|Norway}} || UTC+1 || ||
+| {{w|Norway}} || UTC+1 ||Moved east and tilted more upright to fit in UTC&plusmn;1 ||
 |-
-| {{w|Sweden}} || UTC+1 || ||
+| {{w|Sweden}} || UTC+1 ||Squashed and moved east to make room for Norway obliterating the Baltic sea ||
 |-
 | {{w|Finland}} || UTC+2 || Stretched horizontally because it borders Norway on the north, which uses UTC+1. ||

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | titletext = This is probably the first projection in cartographic history that can be criticized for its disproportionate focus on Finland, Mongolia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 }}
-A [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png double sized version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at the comic on xkcd.com.
+*A [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png bigger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at the comic on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com].
 ==Explanation==

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:02, 16 August 2023
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	[[Category:Comics with color]]		[[Category:Comics with color]]
	[[Category:Bad Map Projections]]		[[Category:Bad Map Projections]]
		+	[[Category:Footnotes]] <!-- (in Australia) * half-hour offset -->