Map Projections
Map Projections is a structured science dataset with 15 entries. Its fields include Projection, Type, Year Created. The source values are preserved as a structured reference table.
Every row is shown below and is also available as CSV, JSON, or Excel.
Dataset details
- Table scope
- All 15 rows
- Fields
- 5 columns
- Source
- Community curated
- Data updated
- Mar 6, 2026
Included fields: Projection, Type, Year Created, Preserves, Known For.
The table contains every record in this dataset; the same records are available in each download format.
Preview observations
- Year Created span
- 1569 to 1999
- Across 9 preview rows
- Preserves groups
- 12 distinct values
- Across 15 preview rows
Useful for
- Comparing Projection, Type, and Year Created across science entries
- Building reference tables, charts, or analyses from 15 downloadable records
Projection↕ | Type↕ | Year Created↕ | Preserves↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mercator | Cylindrical (conformal) | 1569 | Angles and shapes (conformal) | The map everyone grew up with, makes Greenland look the size of Africa (it's 14x smaller), perfect for navigation because straight lines = constant compass bearing, the most criticized map in history |
Robinson | Pseudocylindrical (compromise) | 1963 | Nothing perfectly — compromises everything | National Geographic's choice for 10 years, looks 'right' to most people even though nothing is accurate, the diplomat of projections — everyone's slightly unhappy but nobody's furious |
Winkel Tripel | Azimuthal (modified, compromise) | 1921 | Balanced area, distance, and direction | National Geographic's current standard (since 1998), minimizes total distortion better than almost anything, name means 'triple' in German for its three-way compromise, the gold standard of wall maps |
Peters (Gall-Peters) | Cylindrical (equal-area) | 1855 / 1967 | Area (equal-area) | The political map — shows Africa and South America at their true massive size, West Wing episode made it famous, looks 'stretched' to Western eyes used to Mercator, sparked the biggest map controversy ever |
Mollweide | Pseudocylindrical (equal-area) | 1805 | Area (equal-area) | The elliptical world map, great for showing global distributions and climate data, edges get squished but areas are honest, the scientist's choice for thematic maps, elegantly curved |
Goode Homolosine | Pseudocylindrical (interrupted, equal-area) | 1923 | Area (by interrupting oceans) | The 'orange peel' map — slices the oceans to keep land accurate, looks like someone peeled the globe, brilliant for land-based data but sailors hate it, the most creative solution to an impossible problem |
Azimuthal Equidistant | Azimuthal | ~1000 AD (al-Biruni) | Distances from center point | The UN flag uses it (centered on North Pole), flat Earth believers accidentally use a legitimate projection, shows true distances from one point to everywhere, used for radio and seismic analysis |
Stereographic | Azimuthal (conformal) | ~150 AD (Ptolemy) | Angles and shapes locally (conformal) | The oldest projection still in regular use, maps circles on the globe to circles on the map, weather maps and polar regions love it, the astronomer's and navigator's projection |
Lambert Conformal Conic | Conic (conformal) | 1772 | Angles and shapes (conformal) | Aviation charts worldwide use it, US State Plane Coordinate System is built on it, great for mid-latitude countries that stretch east-west, the pilot's map projection, engineering standard |
Albers Equal-Area Conic | Conic (equal-area) | 1805 | Area (equal-area) | USGS standard for maps of the contiguous United States, preserves area perfectly for mid-latitude regions, the definitive way to map the USA, census and thematic mapping workhorse |
Transverse Mercator | Cylindrical (conformal, transverse) | 1772 (Lambert) / 1822 (Gauss) | Angles along central meridian | UTM grid system that every GPS on Earth uses, Google Maps' base projection, rotated Mercator that's accurate in narrow north-south strips, the silent king of modern navigation |
Dymaxion (Fuller) | Polyhedral (icosahedron) | 1943 | Relative area and shape (minimal distortion) | Buckminster Fuller's genius unfolded icosahedron, no 'right way up' — challenges north-is-up bias, shows continents as nearly contiguous landmass, the most intellectually provocative map ever made |
Equirectangular (Plate Carrée) | Cylindrical (equidistant) | ~100 AD (Marinus of Tyre) | Latitude-longitude grid spacing | The simplest possible projection — just plot lat/lon as x/y, default texture map for 3D globes and satellite imagery, every space photo of Earth uses it, mathematically trivial but visually familiar |
Sinusoidal | Pseudocylindrical (equal-area) | 1606 (Mercator's son?) | Area and distances along central meridian and equator | Equal-area with pointed edges, great for single-continent maps, Africa and South America look correct, NASA uses it for planetary mapping, the mathematically elegant equal-area option |
AuthaGraph | Polyhedral (tetrahedron-based) | 1999 | Area and shape (nearly uniform distortion) | Won Japan's Good Design Grand Award, tessellates infinitely without edge distortion, arguably the most accurate flat world map ever created, quietly revolutionary, the future of cartography |
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Frequently asked questions
How is Map Projections organized?
The table starts in the source data's default order. You can sort and filter the loaded rows by the displayed fields.
How much data is available on this page?
This dataset contains 15 entries, and every row is available in the table and in the downloadable files.
Can I download the complete dataset?
Yes. CSV, JSON, and Excel downloads contain all 15 rows. Before republishing the data, review the source and any usage terms listed on this page; dtbse does not replace the original source's licensing terms.
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