Mercator vs Equal Earth: A Detailed Comparison
Understanding the difference between these two projections is crucial for interpreting maps correctly. Each serves different purposes and makes different compromises in how they represent our spherical Earth on a flat surface.
Mercator Projection
Historical Background
Created by Gerardus Mercator in 1569 for maritime navigation. Revolutionized sea travel by allowing sailors to plot straight-line courses.
Key Properties
- • Conformal: Preserves angles and shapes locally
- • Cylindrical: Earth wrapped around a cylinder
- • Straight rhumb lines: Constant bearing appears as straight line
- • Infinite poles: Cannot show polar regions
Best Uses
- • Marine and aviation navigation
- • Web mapping (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap)
- • Street-level mapping and directions
- • Local area maps where distortion is minimal
Major Limitation
Extreme area distortion near poles. Greenland appears 14x larger than it actually is relative to other countries.
Equal Earth Projection
Historical Background
Developed in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny. Modern solution for accurate area representation with minimal shape distortion.
Key Properties
- • Equal-area: Preserves relative sizes of all areas
- • Pseudocylindrical: Curved meridians, straight parallels
- • Shows all regions: Complete world view including poles
- • Balanced distortion: Minimizes shape distortion
Best Uses
- • Comparing country sizes and areas
- • Thematic mapping (population, climate, etc.)
- • Educational materials and textbooks
- • Statistical and reference maps
Key Advantage
Accurate area relationships. A square kilometer in Greenland represents the same area as a square kilometer in Brazil.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Aspect | Mercator | Equal Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Area Accuracy | Poor (extreme distortion at poles) | Excellent (all areas proportional) |
| Shape Accuracy | Excellent (conformal) | Good (minimal distortion) |
| Navigation Use | Excellent (straight rhumb lines) | Poor (curved paths) |
| Polar Regions | Cannot display poles | Shows complete world |
| Web Mapping | Standard (Google Maps, OSM) | Limited support |
| Educational Value | Can mislead about sizes | Accurate size perception |
Distortion Examples
Mercator Distortion Issues
- • Greenland: Appears 14x larger than actual size relative to Africa
- • Alaska: Looks similar to Brazil, but Brazil is 5x larger
- • Antarctica: Cannot be shown (would be infinitely large)
- • Scandinavia: Appears larger than India (India is 3x bigger)
- • Russia: While large, appears disproportionately huge
Equal Earth Accuracy
- • All countries: Shown in correct proportional sizes
- • Africa: Appears appropriately massive (30.3M km²)
- • Greenland: Shown at true relative size (2.2M km²)
- • Polar regions: Accurately represented without distortion
- • Island nations: Maintain correct relative scales
When to Use Each Projection
Choose Mercator When:
- • Creating navigation tools or route planning applications
- • Building web maps that need to work with existing tile services
- • Focusing on local areas where distortion is minimal (equatorial regions)
- • Need to preserve angles and shapes for technical applications
- • Displaying street-level detail or urban planning maps
Choose Equal Earth When:
- • Comparing sizes of countries, continents, or geographic features
- • Creating educational materials about world geography
- • Displaying thematic data (population density, climate zones, etc.)
- • Need accurate representation of polar regions
- • Creating reference maps or atlases for statistical purposes
Try It Yourself
Interactive Examples
Experience the difference between these projections by trying these comparisons on our interactive map tool: