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The article doesn't say it's a country and an appropriate comparison is one that puts things into perspective, which this graphic definitely does.
by melvinram 13y ago
The article doesn't say it's a country and an appropriate comparison is one that puts things into perspective, which this graphic definitely does.
- Turing_Machine 13y ago"Puts it into perspective" how? Africa is a heterogenous continent, with vast numbers of different cultures, languages, natural resources, climates... Treating it any kind of unit doesn't make sense. It definitely doesn't make sense to compare it with unitary countries on any level, and even less sense to compare it on the basis of geographic size. Canada is a huge country, but that's not why it's wealthy. The Netherlands is a tiny country, but that's not why it's wealthy, either.
- melvinram 13y agoIt's all relative. I live in California, US. I know how big the US is relative to Cali... so I know how big United States is. I have a point of reference. Comparing Africa to USA gives me a way to mentally model what the difference in size means. Comparing a continent to a country makes sense the same way that you might compare the size of a child to an adult. They don't have to be the same. You just know which of the two you are and get a sense of how big the other is.