286 § ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
therefore should be one of the great transportation crossroads of the 
world. 
A glance at the globe is sufficient to illustrate the significance of 
these statements. Geographers also have designed a so-called “polar 
projection,” prepared by laying a geometric plane on the Pole at right 
angles to the earth’s axis, and depicting the globe with the North Pole 
as the center and with the South Pole as the outer circumference. 
Parallels of latitude are ruled off at equal intervals in concentric 
circles and meridians of longitude are straight radial lines. As a 
result, the northern continents surround the central Arctic Basin and 
the Antarctic Continent represents an outer lacy fringe. This projec- 
tion is particularly interesting if population density is indicated, for, 
with the exception of India and China, the areas of densest population 
—between which most aerial communication is likely to develop—le 
immediately around the Arctic. 
TaBLe 1.—Comparative distances* 
New York to Moscow: Miles 
Steamship and railroad—via Hamburg and Berlin__--____________- 5, 600 
Air—via London, and, Berlin. =- 222-2) ee eee 5, 000 
Arctie—via Greenland: and lceland=22- 2222 ee ee 4, 600 
New York to Tokyo: 
Steamship and railroad—via San Francisco_____--_____-_-_--____- 8, 000 
Via ean a ota oO alee es eee 11, 200 
Air—via San Francisco and Honolulus—2 2224-2282 eee 8, 800 
Arctic—via Hudson Bay, Victoria Island, and Beaufort Sea______--_ 5, 900 
San Francisco to Moscow: 
Steamship and railroad—via New York, Hamburg, and Berlin____-_ 8, 300 
: via Tokyo and Vladivostok-_-__---___--__ 15, 500 
Air—via New, York, London, and. Berlin 2322 eee 7, 600 
Via Honolulu and! Tokyo) 22 so oe eee 10, 900 
Arctic—via HBllesmere, northern Greenland, Spitsbergen, and North 
Cape) (Norway i222 se eee ee eee 5, 650 
San Francisco to London: 
Steamship and railroad—via New York__-_-----------_------------- 6, 425 
Air——via New, (Yorks... 22. 6 oe ee eee 6, 025 
Arctic—via Hudson Bay, Baffin Island, Greenland, and Iceland__-__--_ 5, 150 
San Francisco to Bergen: 
Steamship and railroad—via New York_-----__--__-__--______--_-- 7, 000 
Air—via New York and London 22222225 3° 2S ee eee 6, 750 
Arctic—via Baffin Island and central Greenland__-_-____-_---_-----~ 4, 750 
London to Tokyo: 
Steamship and railroad—via Hamburg, Berlin, Moscow, and 
Viadivostokjcs— ees: oes Fee Ses 12, 000 
via New York and San Francisco_-__----_-_ 11, 250 
Air—via: ‘Moscow .2i i225 A ee ee ee 6, 200 
via New York, San Francisco, and Honolulu______----------_--- 12, 275 
Arctic—via North Cape (Norway) and Novaya Zemlya____---------- 5, 500 
*All distances, given in statute miles, are approximate, because of the inadequacy and 
inconsistencies of available tables, maps, and charts. 
