Gall-Peters projection
The Gall-Peters projectionan orthographic equal-area map projection ofearth. It was published1855 by James Gall inScottish Geographical Magazine.
Arno Peters presentedmap1973 as'new invention',gavepublicity asbetter alternative forMercator projection, which shows areas very much distorted (showing Greenland somewhat larger than Africa whereasreality Africa13 times as large), becauseGall-Peters projection shows equal areas equal, thus givingtropics their rightful place onmap. This argument was picked up by many educational institutessuch, andGall-Peters projectionthereforemuch use.
Professional geographers however, while agreeingPeters's arguments againstMercator projection, also find much fault withGall-Peters projection becausekeepequal-area,very much distorts shapes, extending anything nearequator innorth-south, nearpoles ineast-west direction. They prefer maps that makecompromise between areashape accuracy, or thatequal-arealess shape distortion.
Seven North American geographic organizations1989 adoptedfollowing resolution that rejected all rectangular world maps, which include bothMercator andGall-Peters projections:
"WHEREAS,earthround withcoordinate system composed entirelycircles, andWHEREAS, flat world mapsmore useful than globe maps, but flatteningglobe surface necessarily greatly changesappearanceEarth's featurescoordinate systems, and
WHEREAS, world maps havepowerfullasting effect on peoples' impressions ofshapessizeslandsseas, their arrangement, andnature ofcoordinate system, and
WHEREAS, frequently seeinggreatly distorted map tendsmake"look right,"
THEREFORE, we strongly urge bookmap publishers,mediagovernment agenciescease using rectangular world mapsgeneral purposes or artistic displays. Such maps promote serious, erroneous conceptions by severely distorting large sections ofworld, by showinground Earth as having straight edgessharp corners, by representing most distancesdirect routes incorrectly,by portrayingcircular coordinate system assquared grid. The most widely displayed rectangular world map isMercator (in factnavigational diagram devisednautical charts), but other rectangular world maps proposed as replacements forMercator also displaygreatly distorted image ofspherical Earth."
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