On a Mercator map, where is the apparent distance between Greenland and Norway greatest?

In a Mercator projection, the distortion of size and distance increases as one moves away from the equator towards the poles. This is due to the way the cylindrical map representation stretches areas to maintain straight lines of latitude and longitude.

Greenland, located far north, is significantly enlarged in a Mercator map compared to its actual size, as it is near the North Pole. Therefore, the apparent distance between Greenland and Norway, which is also to the north, appears greatest at the poles. This distortion can give the misleading impression that Greenland is much larger and further away from Norway than it actually is.

Since the Mercator projection maintains angles but greatly distorts distances at high latitudes, the greatest apparent distance is indeed observed at the poles. This characteristic of the Mercator projection is essential for navigational purposes but can lead to misinterpretation of geographical relationships between landmasses when looking at polar regions.