Feedback
For comments, questions, suggestions and criticism of any kind, write an email to:
… OR:
Leave a comment on this site
Some pages (e.g. the articles about Basic Knowledge or Selected Projections)
offer a commentary function for comments regarding the subject in question.
For general comments regarding the website map-projections.net, use the comment form below:
Comments
21 comments
There are further comments in the german version.
Andreas Skyman
I think this might be my new favourite site on the internet. Wow! Everything I've been wanting to explore about projections at my fingertips! The _only_ drawback is that now that I've found this site, I won't feel so compelled to implement/write my own version of it, but hopefully I will find something else to do with my time. Thank you very much!
Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:24 pm CET – One Reply
HumanImprint
Can you look at Wagner II? It says the date was made after Wagner I, but also after Wagner III.
Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:40 pm CEST – One Reply
Tobias Jung
Thank you for your comment!
Yes, that’s confusing, but these dates are correct.
Wagner published the projections that are nowadays (he himself didn’t use those numbers) called Wagner I and Wagner III in a paper that was published in 1932. Then, in 1949, he published the book »Kartographische Netzentwürfe«, in which he again presented some of the projections he had developed earlier, along with some new ones.
The ordinal numbers were added later (to my knowledge, by John P. Snyder), using the order in which they are shown in the 1949 book.
And since Wagner went from the equal-area projection, to the projection with some amount of areal distortion, to the one with equally spaced parallels, they are now called Wagner I, II, and III, although they were originally published in a different chronological order.
Yes, that’s confusing, but these dates are correct.
Wagner published the projections that are nowadays (he himself didn’t use those numbers) called Wagner I and Wagner III in a paper that was published in 1932. Then, in 1949, he published the book »Kartographische Netzentwürfe«, in which he again presented some of the projections he had developed earlier, along with some new ones.
The ordinal numbers were added later (to my knowledge, by John P. Snyder), using the order in which they are shown in the 1949 book.
And since Wagner went from the equal-area projection, to the projection with some amount of areal distortion, to the one with equally spaced parallels, they are now called Wagner I, II, and III, although they were originally published in a different chronological order.
Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:13 pm CEST
Nathan
have you heard of the waterman butterfly projection?
Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:30 pm CEST – One Reply
Tobias Jung
Oooops! Somehow, I missed to reply… Sorry!
Yes, I know the Waterman butterfly, and I’d love to add it to the website, but no software that I use is able to generate it. Thus, I can’t create the images that I use for all the other projections.
At some point in the future, I’m going to add a post to the blog, listing »the missing projections« that I’m not showing yet for this reasons. It’ll include the Waterman as well as the Dymaxion, Cahill-Keyes, Authagraph…
Yes, I know the Waterman butterfly, and I’d love to add it to the website, but no software that I use is able to generate it. Thus, I can’t create the images that I use for all the other projections.
At some point in the future, I’m going to add a post to the blog, listing »the missing projections« that I’m not showing yet for this reasons. It’ll include the Waterman as well as the Dymaxion, Cahill-Keyes, Authagraph…
Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:12 pm CET
Peter Weenink
Hi, Tobias,
Thanks for your informative projection website! I'm working on Mapvision, a GEO-portal with international info about carto/geo/topo/hydrography, and much more global geo-related info. Sometime this year I will put a link to your site at: http://www.mapvision.eu/node/m…
Best regards, Peter.
Thanks for your informative projection website! I'm working on Mapvision, a GEO-portal with international info about carto/geo/topo/hydrography, and much more global geo-related info. Sometime this year I will put a link to your site at: http://www.mapvision.eu/node/m…
Best regards, Peter.
Wed Sep 13, 2017 6:43 pm CEST
Roland
Great job! Extremely useful, intuitive website, for research, education, or simply enjoying free time!
Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:53 am CEST
Robin
The projection you call "Hammer-Cylindrical" is obviously not cylindrical. Some info on the source/derivation would be useful.
In that vein... This is a very useful website, but from a professional standpoint, it would help if there more citations to sources, esp. for some of the more esoteric projections.
In that vein... This is a very useful website, but from a professional standpoint, it would help if there more citations to sources, esp. for some of the more esoteric projections.
Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:54 am CET – One Reply
Tobias Jung
The Hammer-Cylindrical is a mix of the Hammer and the cylindrical equal-area projections.
It was made using Flex Projector, I grabbed it from the gallery of that application:
http://flexprojector.com/galle…
I don’t know how it was mixed exactly, since FP offers a few options.
About the sources and citations: Good point!
I’m going to add more information, but I’ll do it bit by bit as time goes by.
Thank you for you comment and suggestion!
It was made using Flex Projector, I grabbed it from the gallery of that application:
http://flexprojector.com/galle…
I don’t know how it was mixed exactly, since FP offers a few options.
About the sources and citations: Good point!
I’m going to add more information, but I’ll do it bit by bit as time goes by.
Thank you for you comment and suggestion!
Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:04 pm CET
Clinton
Hi Tobias
Great website! Quick question... what is meant by 'compromise', under the property column - for some projections?
Thanks
Great website! Quick question... what is meant by 'compromise', under the property column - for some projections?
Thanks
Wed Aug 14, 2019 5:41 pm CEST – One Reply
Tobias Jung
Hello,
thank you! :-)
Quick answer: The term „compromise“ refers to projection that is neither equal-area, nor conformal or equidistant.
For more information about these properties, see:
https://map-projections.net/pr…
Hope this helps!
thank you! :-)
Quick answer: The term „compromise“ refers to projection that is neither equal-area, nor conformal or equidistant.
For more information about these properties, see:
https://map-projections.net/pr…
Hope this helps!
Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:08 pm CEST
Rick
Fantastic project! Very professional and well executed. Keep up the good work. Sehr gut und mit Belehrung gelesen!
Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:32 am CET
Liam
Except, the surface of the world is not spherical or even convex in the slightest. There is no measurable curve at all. Also,the world is stationary and does not move at all. It is the Sun etc that moves in the sky above the stationary world below. https://ibb.co/7W3sSZS https://ibb.co/w79B7b2 https://ibb.co/j6FZqcb
Sun July 19, 2020 8:41 am CEST – One Reply
Tobias Jung
Feel free to believe that.
Sun July 19, 2020 1:43 pm CEST
Jean Gardner
Greetings,
I found my way to your very informative website because I am interested in Bucky Fuller's Dymaxion Map. I am wondering if you know of any digital developments of this map that allow for folding and other manipulations to reveal relationships not otherwise evident.
Please respond even if you don't know. That way I will know you received you question.
Much Thanks, Jean Gardner
I found my way to your very informative website because I am interested in Bucky Fuller's Dymaxion Map. I am wondering if you know of any digital developments of this map that allow for folding and other manipulations to reveal relationships not otherwise evident.
Please respond even if you don't know. That way I will know you received you question.
Much Thanks, Jean Gardner
Wed Aug 12, 2020 9:18 pm CEST
Weia Reinboud
Here is the Cupola: https://www.tandfonline.com/ep…
Nice site of you, I know it. I am not a cartographer too!
Greetz, Weia
Nice site of you, I know it. I am not a cartographer too!
Greetz, Weia
Fri May 14, 2021 8:20 pm CEST – One Reply
Alexandre Canana
Mrss Reinbound, I really like your Cupola Projection! I really like it's distribution of distortion and it's outer shape!
Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:28 pm CET
Stefan Korf
Hello and moin,
I have a question, I could find out how it works, I read the papers but I am no good at either math and coding.
I have a map of a world from the german micro/virtual nations and it's in wagner VII and I would really love to get my hands on a merkator projection to put it on a globe/3D object.
It's a vectorgraphic but I am just unable to get it to work, or even how to start.
I.E.: How to get something like this: https://map-projections.net/d3…
Actually, doesn't need to be interactive at all.
I have a question, I could find out how it works, I read the papers but I am no good at either math and coding.
I have a map of a world from the german micro/virtual nations and it's in wagner VII and I would really love to get my hands on a merkator projection to put it on a globe/3D object.
It's a vectorgraphic but I am just unable to get it to work, or even how to start.
I.E.: How to get something like this: https://map-projections.net/d3…
Actually, doesn't need to be interactive at all.
Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:28 pm CET – One Reply
Alexandre Canana
One of my favourite map projection sites! Really great and everything is written in a way that is appealing to a layman or someone who's not especially good at maths!
Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:09 pm CET
Henrique Koehler
Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:12 am CEST
Mike Elstermann, the #geoObserver
THY! Super Job!
Today in the #geoObserver, see: https://geoobserver.wordpress.…
Today in the #geoObserver, see: https://geoobserver.wordpress.…
Mon May 02, 2022 8:25 am CEST
Alexandre Canana
Mr Jung, are you going to add more information about each projection shown here?
Tue May 24, 2022 6:22 pm CEST – 3 replies
Tobias Jung
I might add bits of information now and then, but probably never for each projection.
The time I can put into the site is limited, and about a bunch of projections, I know next to nothing.
The time I can put into the site is limited, and about a bunch of projections, I know next to nothing.
Tue May 24, 2022 6:40 pm CEST
Alexandre Canana
You could always seek help from some of those great books like Flattening the Earth... But it's your site, you do whatever you want.
Tue May 24, 2022 7:01 pm CEST
Alexandre Canana
A wonderful site, I should add!
Tue May 24, 2022 7:32 pm CEST
Ryan Air
This is such a nice website really! I had used this with a few of my friends to work on our upcoming project about Mercator's projection, and by exploring the website I realised that this is some sort of passion project which has been regularly worked upon since 2015! I find that so so cool, I hope you continue working on this for as long as possible, it was really great going through this website, and I'll be sure to check in every few weeks. :)
Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:28 pm CET – One Reply
Tobias Jung
Thanks for the praise, glad you like the site!
And yes, this IS a passion project, and I wish I could devote more time to it.
And yes, this IS a passion project, and I wish I could devote more time to it.
Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:38 am CET
Jennifer DuFault
Hi! I teach world history, and my department as said we can buy maps, but they can't use the Mercator projection. I can't find any historical maps (the Roman Empire, world trade in 1500, the Hellenistic world, etc) that don't use Mercator. Is there any way this site can help convert Mercator projections of historical maps into more accurate projections? Or do you know of any source for the kinds of maps I'm looking for? Thanks!
Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:01 pm CEST
Chris
Hi, I recently became interested in map projections, and this site is amazing! I have 1 suggestion, it will be difficult to implement so I don't expect you to do it, but I think it will be a good addition.
I understand that there is no such thing as a perfect 2D projection of a sphere, but perhaps it will be useful to find out which are Pareto-optimal: projections which are not strictly inferior to any other projection, based on some metrics.
My suggestion is to compute the error metrics for each map as suggested by Goldberg and Gott (https://www.physics.drexel.edu/~goldberg/projections/goldberg_gott.pdf): Isotropy, Area, Flexion, Skewness, Distances, and Boundary Cuts. Then determine which maps are Pareto-optimal and which are not. The paper computes those errors for some map projections, and as an example, in their list of 27 maps, 7 are not Pareto-optimal: Eckert VI, Gall-Peters, Hammer, Lambert Conic, Mercator, Mollweide, and Sinusoidal (if I did not make any mistakes).
What do you think?
I understand that there is no such thing as a perfect 2D projection of a sphere, but perhaps it will be useful to find out which are Pareto-optimal: projections which are not strictly inferior to any other projection, based on some metrics.
My suggestion is to compute the error metrics for each map as suggested by Goldberg and Gott (https://www.physics.drexel.edu/~goldberg/projections/goldberg_gott.pdf): Isotropy, Area, Flexion, Skewness, Distances, and Boundary Cuts. Then determine which maps are Pareto-optimal and which are not. The paper computes those errors for some map projections, and as an example, in their list of 27 maps, 7 are not Pareto-optimal: Eckert VI, Gall-Peters, Hammer, Lambert Conic, Mercator, Mollweide, and Sinusoidal (if I did not make any mistakes).
What do you think?
Wed May 01, 2024 5:46 pm CEST – One Reply
Tobias Jung
Thank you for your kind words, and sorry for the belated reply!
I’d really like to have results of distortion metrics on my website – not necessarily Goldberg & Gott’s, there are a lot of metrics, some of them listed by daan Strebe in a posting in the mapthematics forum (https://www.mapthematics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2440#p2440). But the problem is that this would be a HUGE amount of work – and even then, the values couldn’t be given for ALL listed projections because not all a generated by a formula.
So while I like the idea, it probably won’t happen. :-/
I’d really like to have results of distortion metrics on my website – not necessarily Goldberg & Gott’s, there are a lot of metrics, some of them listed by daan Strebe in a posting in the mapthematics forum (https://www.mapthematics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2440#p2440). But the problem is that this would be a HUGE amount of work – and even then, the values couldn’t be given for ALL listed projections because not all a generated by a formula.
So while I like the idea, it probably won’t happen. :-/
Mon May 06, 2024 9:51 am CEST
Anonymous
I really like this, as a young person interested in map projections this is likely the best website I have ever seen. I think having a way to compare map projections is really handy. I also like that you've linked other things that relate to map projections (if you find more please add it if you have time, perhaps books?) and I've enjoyed looking at the blog. I like that you've avoided using loads of maths, as although I'm open to learning and would love to be able to understand how the projections work beyond the basics, I do find it quite tricky to understand, and might have to learn some more maths before trying. I want to thank you for making this public because it's great.
Fri Sep 27, 2024 7:50 pm CEST
Kevin
I'm Looking for Custom Maps
Can You Take a Photo of a Map and Project on Different Layout?
Thanks,
Kevin
Can You Take a Photo of a Map and Project on Different Layout?
Thanks,
Kevin
Thu Jan 09, 2025 8:12 am CET – One Reply
Tobias Jung
You mean, project it to a different projection?
Yes, in principle, this is possible, but
– you have to know what’s the source projection;
– both projections must be available in the software Geocart (should also work, in some cases, with d3 scripts);
– and of course, the source projection image should be in a high resolution to get a decent result.
Also note, if there are labels on the map, they will be projected, too. See an example of a reprojected world map here:
https://blog.map-projections.n…
Yes, in principle, this is possible, but
– you have to know what’s the source projection;
– both projections must be available in the software Geocart (should also work, in some cases, with d3 scripts);
– and of course, the source projection image should be in a high resolution to get a decent result.
Also note, if there are labels on the map, they will be projected, too. See an example of a reprojected world map here:
https://blog.map-projections.n…
Thu Jan 09, 2025 10:20 am CET
Madeleine
It would be nice to know which year the maps are from, the one I was looking at had Crimea belonging to Russia but no date in the description of it.
Tue Feb 04, 2025 7:43 am CET – One Reply
Tobias Jung
The political maps are based on the “Natural Earth Admin 0 Countries” dataset, version 5.1.1 of May 2022. The Natural Earth data show “de facto boundaries by default according to who controls the territory, versus de jure” (quote from naturalearthdata.com).
I mentioned this in the blog post when I announced the political map images
https://blog.map-projections.n…
– but you’re right, that information should appear in the image description. I’ll add that sometime (hopefully) soon. Thanks for pointing me there!
I mentioned this in the blog post when I announced the political map images
https://blog.map-projections.n…
– but you’re right, that information should appear in the image description. I’ll add that sometime (hopefully) soon. Thanks for pointing me there!
Tue Feb 04, 2025 12:48 pm CET
Tobias Jung
Hope you keep enjoying the site, and whenever you’ve got any suggestions, feel free to contact me!