A web map is an interactive digital map that is accessed and used through a web browser or web application. Unlike static paper maps, web maps are dynamic and allow users to zoom, pan, search, and interact with spatial data in real time.
Why do distances on the map look "wrong" ?
You may notice that some distances — such as from Moscow to Kamchatka versus West Africa to Eastern Europe—look incorrect when visualized on the map. This is a common source of confusion, and it's caused by how maps represent the curved surface of the Earth.
The earth is round — Maps are flat
The Earth is (roughly) a sphere, but maps are 2D. To display a globe on a flat screen, we use a map projection. Every map projection introduces some kind of distortion—either in size, shape, direction, or distance.
One of the most widely used map projections is the Web Mercator projection, which is great for navigation and widely supported in web maps—but it distorts size and distance, especially near the poles. For example:
Russia looks much larger than Africa, but in reality, Africa is bigger.
Eastern Russia looks extremely "stretched" horizontally, so the Moscow–Kamchatka distance looks longer than it actually is.
Distances near the equator appear more accurate than those near the poles.
What distance.to actually measures
Our service calculates real distances along the Earth's surface, either:
