Cultural views really affect the way we choose maps to show the Earth's surface. Different cultures care about different features on a map based on their history, politics, and economy.

1. What's Important in Different Places:

   • Some countries like maps that focus on their own area. For example, the Peters projection makes land areas look bigger, which can be important for these countries.
   • On the other hand, the Mercator projection is often used in Western countries. It keeps angles straight, which is great for navigation, but it makes land areas look much bigger than they really are.

2. Map Size Effects:

   • The Mercator projection makes places near the poles look much larger than they actually are. For example, Greenland seems about 14 times bigger than it is. It's shown as roughly 2,166,086 square kilometers, while Africa is only about 381,000 square kilometers.
   • The Peters projection, however, tries to keep things proportional. It shows countries like Africa much closer to their real size, which is why many developing countries like it.

3. Changing Perspectives:

   • The stories and history of a culture also change how political boundaries are shown on maps. Some maps aim to highlight past colonial issues or tensions between countries.

Knowing these perspectives is really important for understanding maps. It helps us see how maps can influence our views and education about different cultures.