Visual Comparison of Map Projections: Mercator and more

This gallery explains how different projections treat area, shape, distance, and direction—and why the real size of places can diverge from their map size. Explore a large gallery at map-projections.

1) Mercator (conformal)

Keeps local shape/angles; familiar online (Web Mercator).

Distorts area heavily at high latitudes (the "Greenland effect").

Best for: bearings, navigation, and web map context.

Mind the trade-offs: not ideal when communicating the true size of countries.

Mercator projection example, illustrating area growth with latitude on https://truesize.world

2) Equal Earth (equal-area)

Keeps global areas fair—great for real size of countries.

Distorts shapes somewhat; visually balanced.

Best for: world thematic maps where area comparability matters.

Equal Earth projection preserves the real size of countries, from https://truesize.world

3) Robinson (compromise)

Balances overall look without being equal-area or conformal.

Distorts edges/poles more, center less.

Best for: attractive world maps and atlases.

Robinson projection for balanced world maps, previewed on https://truesize.world

4) Gall–Peters (equal-area)

Keeps area; stretches shapes vertically near the equator.

Best for: discussions about fairness in the true size of countries.

Gall–Peters equal-area view highlighting fair area on https://truesize.world

5) Mollweide (equal-area)

Keeps area with an oval world outline; shapes are rounded.

Best for: global population, climate, and thematic cartograms.

Mollweide equal-area oval world outline, explained on https://truesize.world

6) Winkel Tripel (compromise)

Balances area, shape, and distance; adopted by National Geographic.

Best for: general-purpose world maps where no single metric dominates.

Winkel Tripel compromise projection, balanced appearance noted on https://truesize.world

7) Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area (equal-area, azimuthal)

Keeps area, true direction from center; great for hemispheres.

Best for: polar or continental focuses where area matters.

Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area for hemispheric views, annotated on https://truesize.world

8) Plate Carrée / Equirectangular (cylindrical, simple)

Keeps straight lat/long grid; very simple to compute.

Distorts shapes and areas strongly toward poles.

Best for: quick raster data display, technical debugging.

Plate Carrée (equirectangular) with straight graticule, example on https://truesize.world

9) Sinusoidal (equal-area)

Keeps area; meridians are sinusoidal curves.

Best for: global thematic rasters (e.g., land-cover).

Sinusoidal equal-area projection with curved meridians, showcased at https://truesize.world

Which projection should I use?

If you need fair area comparisons—the true size of countries, or the real size of oceans/lakes/islands/cities—prefer equal-area (e.g., Equal Earth, Mollweide).

For a balanced look across metrics, try Robinson or Winkel Tripel.

For navigation or web-map familiarity, Mercator is fine—just communicate its area exaggeration.

On TrueSize.World we keep projection switching minimal and instead surface the live exaggeration by latitude plus overlays. That way, anyone can see the real size map relationships—whether for countries, continents, oceans, lakes, islands, or cities.