Editing 1500: Upside-Down Map

{{comic
| number    = 1500
| date      = March 18, 2015
| title     = Upside-Down Map
| image     = upside_down_map.png
| 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.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic plays on the idea that maps with the {{w|South-up map orientation|south pole at the top}} will "change your perspective of the world". Most world maps orient north in the upward direction, placing the north pole as the top. Such an orientation is purely a matter of convention, as 'up' and 'down' don't apply in a planetary context. The north = up tradition probably emerged because many historical cartographers hailed from the northern hemisphere, and placed their own nations at the top. Some people and groups object that this convention subtly, but perniciously, advances the assumption that countries in the northern hemisphere are inherently more important than those in the southern hemisphere. This is especially sensitive because most of the wealthier and more powerful countries in the world are in the northern hemisphere, while relatively fewer southern hemisphere countries have as much wealth or global influence.

To remedy this, some advocate the use of maps with the south pole oriented at the top. Some want such maps in common use, while others simply use them to encourage people to rethink their assumptions about how the world should be seen. Such a map can easily be achieved by simply rotating a normal map 180 degrees, though the text labels would also be upside-down and harder to read. A [https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&q=upside-down%2Bmap%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bworld Google Images] search reveals many examples of upside-down maps with the text-oriented correctly for reading.

This map is a comedic play on such maps, where each landmass is in the same position it would be in a traditional north-top map but rotated 180 degrees (presumably around some central point of the landmass) to the orientation it would have in a south-top map. Such a map is, of course, almost completely useless in real life, because it completely distorts the relative positioning of the landmasses. Moreover, it keeps the northern countries at the top of the map, which means one of the chief complaints about traditional maps is unaddressed. 

Note that individual islands are rotated about their own centers, rather than following the rotation of the neighboring continent; however, some are displaced as necessary to keep them from being overlapped by the rotated continents. For instance, {{w|Madagascar}} would be overlapped by the {{w|Sahara}} if it remained in position, but is instead displaced eastward to keep it in the Indian Ocean. On the other hand, all the islands of the {{w|Mediterranean Sea}} have disappeared under {{w|Asia}}. A landmass that follows a different rule is the {{w|Sinai}} peninsula. Instead of remaining part of Eurasia, it followed {{w|Egypt}} in rotating around {{w|Africa}}, becoming a separately outlined island in the process.

Asia is so broad that almost the entire {{w|Indochinese Peninsula}} (with for instance {{w|Vietnam}} and {{w|Thailand}}) has been rotated out of the top of the map. Similarly, the map omits {{w|Antarctica}} in the south. Interestingly, Thailand in particular, presumably alongside the mainland portion of {{w|Malaysia}} at the tip of the Malay peninsula, has been omitted entirely, with the visible Thai borders instead outlining the edge between land and sea. Also, the portions of {{w|Borneo}} owned by Malaysia and the country of {{w|Brunei}} are not delineated from the {{w|Indonesia|Indonesian}} parts.

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. See also [[977: Map Projections]].

The basic climates for several areas would be distinctly different. For example, the former Central America area would be in the arctic zone, while Siberia would be subtropical.

This arrangement of the world's landmasses would have great advantages for trade because there are (presumably navigable) straits between the {{w|Americas}} and between Africa and Asia, removing the need for the {{w|Panama Canal}} and the {{w|Suez Canal}}.

The title text references the fact that, in this new map, the {{w|United Kingdom|UK}} is now next to Asia &ndash; specifically the {{w|Korean Peninsula}}. {{w|North Korea}} is mentioned in the text as having a history of hostile relations with nearby countries. However, on this map North Korea would be the part of {{w|Korea}} we today know as {{w|South Korea}}. Furthermore, {{w|Northern Ireland}} is now at the south of the {{w|island of Ireland}}, so the UK's full name would need to change to The United Kingdom of Great Britain and '''Southern''' Ireland. There have been several wars concerning the {{w|English Channel}}, mainly, but not only, between {{w|England}} and {{w|France}}. Likewise, there has been a history of animosity between Korea and {{w|Japan}}, separated by a similar body of water. Since, on this world map, a channel now exists between the UK and North Korea (the real world's South Korea) there could obviously have been many wars for the dominance over the said channel.

Along the same line of thinking, interesting speculations could be made about the following "new" facts:
*{{w|Cuba}} is now off the east coast (formerly west coast) of {{w|Canada}} (and the {{w|USA}}).
*{{w|Japan}} is next to the coast of {{w|Portugal}} and {{w|Spain}}.
*Madagascar lies next to {{w|Morocco}} and {{w|Mauritania}} on the east coast (formerly west coast) of the Sahara.
*{{w|Taiwan}} (officially called the Republic of China) is now next to {{w|France}}. This might be a game-changer for the {{w|Cross-Strait relations}}, an ongoing rivalry with {{w|China|mainland China}} (officially called the People's Republic of China).
*{{w|Greenland}} lies next to {{w|Mexico}}.
*{{w|Sri Lanka}} is located next to the {{w|Yamalsky District}} of {{w|Russia}}.
*{{w|Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego|Tierra del Fuego}}, an island just south of the southern tip of South America, which is divided between {{w|Argentina}} and {{w|Chile}}, is now located in a similar manner next to {{w|Colombia}} and {{w|Venezuela}}, so it would probably have been divided between these two countries.
*The {{w|Falkland Islands}} (not named in the map &ndash; they are probably represented by the single island above the T in Tierra) where Argentina and the UK have an ongoing {{w|Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute|sovereignty dispute}}, could now be claimed by {{w|Ecuador}} or {{w|Peru}}.
*The Mediterranean islands seem to have vanished entirely, as they are now in approximately the same place as {{w|Mongolia}}.
*{{w|India}} is nowhere near the {{w|Indian Ocean}}.
*{{w|Norway}} almost touches the {{w|Philippines}}.

==Transcript==
:[Map of the world with all the landmasses rotated upside-down.]
:[Four oceans and all the visible continents have been named in large letters in a bold font. The Pacific has been named both to the left and right. Several islands (large and small) have been designated with name but in grey and in a much smaller normal font. For all continents the names are written on them. For the island the name is written in the ocean except for Greenland.]

:[Below the names on the map are given in the order they appear reading from left to right, first for the northern and then the southern hemisphere:]

:[Northern hemisphere:]
:'''North America'''
:Cuba
:Greenland
:'''Atlantic Ocean
:Iceland
:UK
:'''Asia'''
:Sri Lanka
:'''Europe'''
:'''Arctic Ocean'''
:Taiwan
:Japan
:'''Pacific Ocean'''

:[Southern hemisphere:]
:'''Pacific Ocean'''
:'''South America'''
:Tierra del Fuego
:'''Africa'''
:'''Indian Ocean'''
:Madagascar
:Indonesia
:'''Australia'''
:New Zealand

:[Below the main frame:]
:'''This upside-down map will change your perspective on the world!'''

==Trivia==
Map projections are also the subject of [[977: Map Projections]]. In fact, if this comic was released later, it would certainly have "Bad Map Projection #''n''" on the top, and would be part of [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|the category]].

Other early maps {{w|T and O map|used the convention}} of essentially having Asia oriented at the top of the map, Jerusalem's Holy Land in the middle and Europe/Africa at the bottom left/right, respectively, influenced by the spiritual philosophies of the age and the less thorough knowledge of the finer points of continental geography. Modern variations on this theme can easily use any other central point to the map. They may use any location (or just a longitudinal shift) that is considered significant by the map users/publishers, such as that of Mecca, Beijing, the geographic midpoint of the US or either of the Earth's poles. But these still tend to orient north upwards in most cases, with the main exceptions being the south-upward variation (perhaps to complement a southern hemisphere focus, such as being a Sydney-centric world map) or those that are radial around one or other pole (where ''all'' directions from the middle are the same compass direction, and the choice to be made is instead of which particular line of longitude to put in the twelve-o'clock position).

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Maps]]