Does "land area" assume a country is perfectly flat?

Why HN readers recommended it

HN recommends it in map projection and coastline threads as a fun look at how measurement choices change area figures.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

Stand-up Maths

Topic

measuring land area

Format

explainer

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

3

HN mentions in dataset

4

Recommendation years in dataset

2020–2023

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• >But then realized that the coastline paradox must also exist for 3D surfaces (TINs or DEMs or whatnot) so asking “what is the area of a surface on earth” can be a very complex question if dealing with elevation. StandUpMaths did a great video on …

• Matt Parker from Standup Maths made a great video on exactly this subject a few weeks ago. "Does land area assume a country is perfectly flat?" [VIDEO]

• Then it becomes a coastline problem, with different answers depending on the resolution of your elevation data. Great video on this from Matt Parker (focusing on area in this case): [VIDEO]