Maps

[bednobs]

I thought maybe i asked this q before, but can't find it ... Do other countries have maps that have america on the left and new zealand on the right?

[Buenchico]

The standard way of presenting maps (using the Mercator projection) is with the Greenwich Meridian down the middle. That makes most sense, as all places that have westerly longitudes are then on the left of the map, with all those having easterly longitudes being to the right. It could be rather confusing otherwise, so the maps we use in this country are generally the same ones that are used throughout the world.

Of course there's absolutely nothing to prevent a map publisher from presenting their own way of doing things. In Australia it's very easy to buy maps of the World which have South at the top. (However you're more likely to find them in gift shops than in serious cartographic outlets):
https://tldesigner.net/top-of-australia-map/top-of-australia-map-london-and-utlr-me-throughout-3/

Similarly a publisher might choose to produde a Mercator map with their own country at the centre (although you'd probably struggle to find many examples).

[Hopkirk]

Surely the UK has to in the centre?