The Real Size of Africa

From childhood we are taught that the world looks like this. This is the Mercator world map which is used in institutions all over the world. It was created by a Flemish cartographer called Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It was mainly used to assist with navigation for European sailors. 

It is very difficult to get an accurate impression of a sphere shape onto a flat surface, and as a result there will inevitably be distortion on world maps. However, the distortion on this map is very drastic. What we have been taught about the size and land mass of various continents has been a total lie. 

The Gall-Peters map on the right is far more accurate in terms of the landmass of  countries. James Gall in 1855 created a more accurate map in terms of proportion in regards to land mass.  German historian Arno Peters also created a map in 1973 which matches that by James Gall. Hence why it is called the Gall-Peters map. What you will notice is that the countries/continents  in the North of the world is drastically smaller and those in the Southern hemisphere are drastically bigger. Most notably, Africa is double the size in real life than what is shown on the above Mercator Map. South America and Australia are also a lot bigger. You will notice that Europe is a lot smaller.

The question you may be asking is why the Mercator map created this drastic distortion which has been accepted worldwide. This answer is rooted in European imperialism. The size of countries are equated to power, and significance so the bigger a country looks, the more important it is. Hence why Europe's size was increased to look more powerful as this took place during the colonial era. Places like Africa was decreased in size to make it look less significant and less powerful.

The map below created by Visual Capitalist shows the true size of Africa. As you can see the whole of Europe, USA and a large portion of Asia can all fit inside Africa. It shows you how huge the continent of Africa is. The majority of the world's resources come from Africa, hence why Africa sustains the majority of the world.

Image from Visual Capitalist

COVID-19

I don't think any of us could have anticipated that a virus would come and literally put the whole world on lockdown and collapse the global economy. This is the kind of thing you read about in history books that you wouldn't imagine happening in your life time. To be honest, when coronavirus was in China, I wasn't too worried as previous other coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS didn't have this kind of impact globally. In March 2020 is when we actually saw the severity of this disease and many countries took action and closed their borders and ordered a lock down.

Coronavirus causes COVID-19. What is scary is that black people and other ethnic minorities in the UK & USA are dying  at a higher rate from this disease. Like many people I was wondering why. There could be a long list of possible reasons: ethnic minorities are more likely to live in poorer neighbourhoods, this means less access to healthcare, increases in poor diets, and are more likely to be essential workers so they are exposed more.

There will be  no cure for COVID-19 as the pharmaceutical industries do not believe in cures because they profit from people being sick. Usually when you go to hospital for an illness you are usually "treated" by taking medications that "relieve your symptoms",  not cures. For example, with all of these advanced medical practitioners there is still no cure for the common cold. Next time you buy cold medicine check the packaging and you are likely to see the word "relief" not cure. I am also  highly skeptical about any vaccines because of negative side effects they can have but I won't go into that in this post.

I have been watching many documentaries regarding viruses and infectious diseases, doing a lot of my own research and speaking to people in the medical field. I believe that the best way to defeat this disease is by strengthening your immune system.  This way, if you were to catch it you will have a better chance to fight it off. Here are my tips on  what you can do to improve your immune system, most of these things mentioned can be bought at health food stores such as Holland and Barrett's or online. Disclaimer: I am not a medical expert or nutritionist so  feel free to research these things for yourself.

Cleaner Air

- Keep your windows open to allow ventilation. As pollution has gone down considerably the air is much cleaner

- You can burn sage as it is known to kill over 90% of airborne bacteria and disinfects the air

Herbs , Minerals and Vitamins

Mullein - it is known to help clear the respiratory system
Sea moss - contains 92 of the 102 minerals our body requires
Bladderwrack - contains the remaining 10 minerals
Elderberry - contains antioxidants which help to improve the immune system
Black seed oil
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Zinc


Foods
Citrus Fruits i.e. oranges, lemon, lime
Ginger
Tumeric
Garlic
Cinnamon
Manuka Honey

Drinks
Water - drink a lot of water especially spring water or alkaline water
Green Tea

Things to avoid
Processed foods
Dairy
Too much sugar - this can feed viruses and bacteria
Too much alcohol
Smoking