Projections
The default projection for QGIS (on loading the first time) has the EPSG code 4326 (WGS 84). Unless changed, the default settings in QGIS allow the projection of the map to be set by the projection of the first layer loaded into the map, assuming that the data has a projection associated to it.
It is beyond the scope of this book to go into details about various coordinate systems; if you are interested in learning more about this, then a good starting point is the Wikipedia entry on geographic coordinate systems at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system.
Suffice to say that getting the projection correct in your GIS is fundamental to any analysis, mapping, or derivation of knowledge from your data. The world ...
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