These brilliantly colored wall maps are printed on a durable, tear-resistant material called Tyvek Spunbonded Olefin. The bold black border and opaque tan oceans give this map a contemporary look popular for offices and homes as well. The same image is available as a desk pad, mouse pad, or an activity set that includes a blank map and an erasable pen. This attractive wall map of the world features each country's flag, land area, population, and density statistics along the top and bottom edges of the map. A handy reference time zone insert and also inserts for the often ignored polar regions add to the informative nature of this product.
Some people prefer ego-centered world maps.
This one, showing the United States in the center and using the Mercator projection, adds to the variety available. Decorative sailing ships and sea monsters give this map a real old-style appeal. You just can't project a spherical world on to a flat sheet of paper without some kind of distortion. This map chooses to maintain proper size proportions in what is called an equal-area projection, thus forfeiting accurate country shapes. A common misconception is that Greenland is so very, very large.