map projection
Sign in to saverepresentation of the surface of a sphere or ellipsoid onto a plane map
AI overview
A map projection is a method for representing the curved surface of Earth onto a flat piece of paper or screen. Because you cannot flatten a sphere without distorting it, every map projection involves some trade-off in how it shows distance, direction, or shape—which is why different maps are used for different purposes.
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Article
A medieval depiction of the Ecumene (1482, Johannes Schnitzer, engraver), constructed after the coordinates in Ptolemy's Geography and using his second map projection
In cartography, a map projection is any of a broad set of transformations employed to represent the curved two-dimensional surface of a globe on a plane. In a map projection, coordinates, often expressed as latitude and longitude, of locations from the surface of the globe are transformed to coordinates on a plane. Projection is a necessary step in creating a two-dimensional map and is one of the essential elements of cartography.