The first-ever map of the world was made during the 5^th century, back when people used to think that the Earth was flat. Now, a Japanese architect has created a new world map that is said to be the most precise one yet as it includes the most accurate measurements of the different continents and the countries in it.

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Architect Hajime Narukawa calls this new map the AuthaGraph and received one of Japan's most prestigious design awards--the Good Design Award-- for this work. Critics and experts say that Narukawa's latest world map is the most proportional map of the world yet.

Older map designs are based on Mercator projection models that were first created by geographer Gerardus Mercator in 1959. This projection presents Earth in an oblique spheroid that was then fitted onto a flat surface. However, errors are often seen in this type of map due to this type of projection that can distort and transform the sizes of the continents and countries.

For example, those nations located near polar regions appear larger than their actual sizes. More specifically, Greenland appears to be as massive as the African continent, but in reality, Africa is larger with 14 times more land mass.

To solve this problem, Narukawa devised the AuthaGraph to be able to perfectly transfer the exact proportions of each continent and nation, by subdividing the globe into 96 equally sized regions.

With this new method, the map he created is a more accurate representation of land mass around the globe. However, this might not look like any of the maps you are used to seeing in textbooks that are guided by straight grids of latitudes and longitudes.

In an official statement from the Good Design Award, the map is described as a step forward in improving the accuracy of an "area-equal map."

With the help of the AuthaGraph, continents and oceans are well represented and can all fit into a rectangular frame with no interruptions and no visible seams.