Mercator projection

American  

Or Mercator's projection

noun

Cartography.

1. a conformal projection on which any rhumb line is represented as a straight line, used chiefly in navigation, though the scale varies with latitude and areal size and the shapes of large areas are greatly distorted.

---

Mercator projection British  

/ mɜːˈkeɪtə /

noun

1. Also called: Mercator's projection.  an orthomorphic map projection on which parallels and meridians form a rectangular grid, scale being exaggerated with increasing distance from the equator

---

Mercator projection Scientific  

1. A cylindrical projection of the Earth's surface developed by Gerhardus Mercator. As in other such projections, the areas farther from the equator appear larger, making the polar regions greatly distorted. However, the faithful representation of direction in a Mercator projection makes it ideal for navigation.

2. See more at cylindrical projection

---

Mercator projection Cultural  

1. A way of showing the sphere of the Earth on the flat surface of a map. Because this projection is centered on the equator, in order to maintain the correct shape of the features shown, the spacing between the parallels of latitude increases with the increasing distance from the equator. This tends to enlarge the size of those features located nearer the poles, such as Greenland or New Zealand, giving a false picture of their relative size.

---

Etymology

Origin of Mercator projection

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

Even the colonial-era Mercator projection used to generate the familiar world map is being upended.

From Scientific American

These are illustrated by the famous Mercator projection, the base template for Google maps.

From Scientific American

Slight shame it’s Mercator projection even though @GuardianUpside write about its inaccuracies!?

From The Guardian

Many people still view Mexico through the distorted lens of the Mercator projection maps and may not appreciate fully the difficulty of the task for the Mexican government.

From Washington Post

For almost 500 years, the Mercator projection has been the norm for maps of the world, ubiquitous in atlases, pinned on peeling school walls.

From The Guardian