Table of projections

Projection Images Type Properties Creator Year Notes

Simplest geometry;
Equirectangular distances along meridians
= equidistant are conserved.
cylindrical Plate carrée: special case
Cylindrical Equidistant Marinus of Tyre c. 120
= rectangular
= la carte having the equator as the
parallélogrammatique standard parallel.

Transverse of equidistant
projection; distances along
central meridian are
Cassini César-François Cassini de
Cylindrical Equidistant 1745 conserved.
= Cassini–Soldner Thury
Distances perpendicular to
central meridian are
preserved.

Lines of constant bearing

(rhumb lines) are straight,
aiding navigation. Areas
Mercator
Cylindrical Conformal Gerardus Mercator 1569 inflate with latitude,
= Wright
becoming so extreme that
the map cannot show the
poles.

Variant of Mercator that

ignores Earth's ellipticity for
fast calculation, and clips
Cylindrical Compromise 2005 latitudes to ~85.05° for
Web Mercator Google
square presentation. De
facto standard for Web
mapping applications.
List of map projections - Wikipedia 2/17/19, 6)14 PM

This transverse, ellipsoidal

Carl Friedrich Gauss form of the Mercator is
Gauss–Krüger
finite, unlike the equatorial
= Gauss conformal Johann Heinrich Louis
Cylindrical Conformal 1822 Mercator. Forms the basis
= (ellipsoidal)
Krüger of the Universal Transverse
transverse Mercator
Mercator coordinate
system.

Intended to resemble the

Mercator while also
Gall stereographic Cylindrical Compromise James Gall 1855 displaying the poles.
Standard parallels at
45°N/S.

Intended to resemble the

Miller
Cylindrical Compromise Osborn Maitland Miller 1942 Mercator while also
= Miller cylindrical
displaying the poles.

Standard parallel at the

Lambert equator. Aspect ratio of π
cylindrical equal- Cylindrical Equal-area Johann Heinrich Lambert 1772 (3.14). Base projection of
area the cylindrical equal-area
family.

Horizontally compressed
version of the Lambert
Behrmann Cylindrical Equal-area Walter Behrmann 1910 equal-area. Has standard
parallels at 30°N/S and an
aspect ratio of 2.36.

Horizontally compressed
version of the Lambert
equal-area. Very similar are
Trystan Edwards and
Hobo–Dyer Cylindrical Equal-area Mick Dyer 2002 Smyth equal surface (=
Craster rectangular)
projections with standard
parallels at around 37°N/S.
Aspect ratio of ~2.0.

Horizontally compressed
version of the Lambert
James Gall equal-area. Standard
Gall–Peters
parallels at 45°N/S. Aspect
= Gall orthographic Cylindrical Equal-area (Arno Peters) 1855
ratio of ~1.6. Similar is
= Peters
Balthasart projection with
standard parallels at
50°N/S.

Central cylindrical
Practically unused in
cartography because of
severe polar distortion, but
Cylindrical Perspective (unknown) c. 1850
popular in panoramic
photography, especially for
architectural scenes.

Meridians are sinusoids;

Sinusoidal
parallels are equally
= Sanson–Flamsteed Equal-area,
Pseudocylindrical (Several; first is unknown) c. 1600 spaced. Aspect ratio of 2:1.
= Mercator equal- Equidistant
Distances along parallels
area
are conserved.
Mollweide
= elliptical
Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Karl Brandan Mollweide 1805 Meridians are ellipses.
= Babinet
= homolographic

Eckert II Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Max Eckert-Greifendorff 1906

Parallels are unequal in

spacing and scale; outer
Eckert IV Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Max Eckert-Greifendorff 1906 meridians are semicircles;
other meridians are
semiellipses.

Parallels are unequal in

spacing and scale;
Eckert VI Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Max Eckert-Greifendorff 1906
meridians are half-period
sinusoids.

Ortelius oval Pseudocylindrical Compromise Battista Agnese 1540 Meridians are circular.[2]

Hybrid of Sinusoidal and

Goode Mollweide projections.
Pseudocylindrical Equal-area John Paul Goode 1923
homolosine Usually used in interrupted
form.

Evenly spaced parallels.

Equivalent to Wagner VI
Kavrayskiy VII Pseudocylindrical Compromise Vladimir V. Kavrayskiy 1939
horizontally compressed by
a factor of .

Computed by interpolation
of tabulated values. Used
Robinson Pseudocylindrical Compromise Arthur H. Robinson 1963 by Rand McNally since
inception and used by NGS
1988–98.

Inspired by the Robinson

Bojan Šavrič, Tom
Equal Earth Pseudocylindrical Equal-area 2018 projection, but retains the
Patterson, Bernhard Jenny
relative size of areas.

Computed by interpolation
Natural Earth Pseudocylindrical Compromise Tom Patterson 2011
of tabulated values.

A family of map projections

that includes as special
Tobler cases Mollweide projection,
Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Waldo R. Tobler 1973
hyperelliptical Collignon projection, and
the various cylindrical
equal-area projections.

Equivalent to Kavrayskiy
Wagner VI Pseudocylindrical Compromise K.H. Wagner 1932 VII vertically compressed
by a factor of .

Depending on
configuration, the projection
Collignon Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Édouard Collignon c. 1865 also may map the sphere
to a single diamond or a
pair of squares.

Hybrid of Collignon +
HEALPix Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Krzysztof M. Górski 1997 Lambert cylindrical equal-
area.
 The equal-area projection
that results from average of
sinusoidal and Mollweide y-
Boggs eumorphic Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Samuel Whittemore Boggs 1929
coordinates and thereby
constraining the x
coordinate.

Meridians are parabolas.

Standard parallels at
Craster parabolic
Pseudocylindrical Equal-area John Craster 1929 36°46′N/S; parallels are
=Putniņš P4
unequal in spacing and
scale; 2:1 aspect.

Standard parallels at
33°45′N/S; parallels are
McBryde–Thomas unequal in spacing and
flat-pole quartic Felix W. McBryde, Paul scale; meridians are fourth-
Pseudocylindrical Equal-area 1949
= McBryde–Thomas Thomas order curves. Distortion-
#4 free only where the
standard parallels intersect
the central meridian.

Parallels are unequal in

Karl Siemon 1937 spacing and scale. No
Quartic authalic Pseudocylindrical Equal-area Oscar Adams 1944 distortion along the
equator. Meridians are
fourth-order curves.

Standard parallels 45°N/S.

Parallels based on Gall
stereographic, but with
The Times Pseudocylindrical Compromise John Muir 1965 curved meridians.
Developed for
Bartholomew Ltd., The
Times Atlas.

From the designated

centre, lines of constant
bearing (rhumb
lines/loxodromes) are
Loximuthal Pseudocylindrical Compromise Karl Siemon, Waldo Tobler 1935, 1966
straight and have the
correct length. Generally
asymmetric about the
equator.

Stretching of modified
equatorial azimuthal
Aitoff Pseudoazimuthal Compromise David A. Aitoff 1889 equidistant map. Boundary
is 2:1 ellipse. Largely
superseded by Hammer.

Modified from azimuthal

Hammer
equal-area equatorial map.
= Hammer–Aitoff
Pseudoazimuthal Equal-area Ernst Hammer 1892 Boundary is 2:1 ellipse.
variations:
Variants are oblique
Briesemeister; Nordic
versions, centred on 45°N.

Formulated by using other

Strebe 1995 Pseudoazimuthal Equal-area Daniel "daan" Strebe 1994 equal-area map projections
as transformations.

Arithmetic mean of the

equirectangular projection
Winkel tripel Pseudoazimuthal Compromise Oswald Winkel 1921 and the Aitoff projection.
Standard world projection
for the NGS 1998–present.

Boundary is a circle. All

parallels and meridians are
circular arcs. Usually
Van der Grinten Other Compromise Alphons J. van der Grinten 1904
clipped near 80°N/S.
Standard world projection
of the NGS 1922–88.
 Equidistant conic Based on Ptolemy's 1st Distances along meridians
Conic Equidistant c. 100 are conserved, as is
= simple conic Projection
distance along one or two
standard parallels.[3]

Lambert
Conic Conformal Johann Heinrich Lambert 1772 Used in aviation charts.
conformal conic

Two standard parallels with

Albers conic Conic Equal-area Heinrich C. Albers 1805 low distortion between
them.

Distances from the North

Pole are correct as are the
Equal-area,
Werner Pseudoconical Johannes Stabius c. 1500 curved distances along
Equidistant
parallels and distances
along central meridian.

Parallels are equally

spaced circular arcs and
standard lines. Appearance
Pseudoconical,
Bonne Equal-area Bernardus Sylvanus 1511 depends on reference
cordiform
parallel. General case of
both Werner and
sinusoidal.

Alternative to the Bonne

projection with simpler
overall shape
Bottomley Pseudoconical Equal-area Henry Bottomley 2003 Parallels are elliptical arcs
Appearance depends on
reference parallel.

Distances along the

American parallels are preserved as
Pseudoconical Compromise Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler c. 1820
polyconic are distances along the
central meridian.

Latitude along which scale

Rectangular Pseudoconical Compromise U.S. Coast Survey c. 1853 is correct can be chosen.
polyconic Parallels meet meridians at
right angles.

Latitudinally Polyconic: parallels are

China State Bureau of
equal-differential Pseudoconical Compromise 1963 non-concentric arcs of
Surveying and Mapping
polyconic circles.

Used by the USGS in the

National Atlas of the United
States of America.
Azimuthal Distances from centre are
equidistant conserved.
Azimuthal Equidistant Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī c. 1000
=Postel
=zenithal equidistant Used as the emblem of the

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_map_projections Page 5 of 10
 United Nations, extending
to 60° S.

All great circles map to

straight lines. Extreme
Gnomonic Azimuthal Gnomonic Thales (possibly) c. 580 BC distortion far from the
center. Shows less than
one hemisphere.

The straight-line distance

between the central point
Lambert on the map to any other
azimuthal equal- Azimuthal Equal-area Johann Heinrich Lambert 1772 point is the same as the
area straight-line 3D distance
through the globe between
the two points.

Map is infinite in extent with

outer hemisphere inflating
severely, so it is often used
as two hemispheres. Maps
Stereographic Azimuthal Conformal Hipparchos (deployed) c. 200 BC all small circles to circles,
which is useful for
planetary mapping to
preserve the shapes of
craters.

View from an infinite

Orthographic Azimuthal Perspective Hipparchos (deployed) c. 200 BC
distance.

View from a finite distance.

Vertical
Azimuthal Perspective Matthias Seutter (deployed) 1740 Can only display less than
perspective
a hemisphere.

Two "control points" can be

almost arbitrarily chosen.
Two-point The two straight-line
Azimuthal Equidistant Hans Maurer 1919
equidistant distances from any point on
the map to the two control
points are correct.

Peirce quincuncial Other Conformal Charles Sanders Peirce 1879

Guyou
hemisphere-in-a- Other Conformal Émile Guyou 1887
square projection

Adams
hemisphere-in-a- Other Conformal Oscar Sherman Adams 1925
square projection

Lee conformal Projects the globe onto a

world on a Polyhedral Conformal L. P. Lee 1965 regular tetrahedron.
tetrahedron Tessellates.

AuthaGraph Approximately equal-area.

Link to file Polyhedral Compromise Hajime Narukawa 1999
projection Tessellates.

Projects the globe onto

eight octants (Reuleaux
Octant projection Polyhedral Compromise Leonardo da Vinci 1514
triangles) with no meridians
and no parallels.

Projects the globe onto an

octahedron with
symmetrical components
Cahill's butterfly Bernard Joseph Stanislaus
Polyhedral Compromise 1909 and contiguous
map Cahill
landmasses that may be
displayed in various
arrangements.

Projects the globe onto a

truncated octahedron with
symmetrical components
Cahill–Keyes
Polyhedral Compromise Gene Keyes 1975 and contiguous land
projection
masses that may be
displayed in various
arrangements.

Projects the globe onto a

truncated octahedron with
Waterman symmetrical components
butterfly Polyhedral Compromise Steve Waterman 1996 and contiguous land
projection masses that may be
displayed in various
arrangements.

Quadrilateralized F. Kenneth Chan, E. M.

Polyhedral Equal-area 1973
spherical cube O'Neill
Dymaxion map Polyhedral Compromise Buckminster Fuller 1943 Also known as a Fuller
Projection.

Projects the globe onto a

Myriahedral myriahedron: a polyhedron
Polyhedral Compromise Jarke J. van Wijk 2008
projections with a very large number of
faces.[4][5]

Craig
retroazimuthal Retroazimuthal Compromise James Ireland Craig 1909
= Mecca

Hammer
retroazimuthal, Retroazimuthal Ernst Hammer 1910
front hemisphere

Hammer
retroazimuthal, Retroazimuthal Ernst Hammer 1910
back hemisphere

on equatorial aspect it
Littrow Retroazimuthal Conformal Joseph Johann Littrow 1833 shows a hemisphere
except for poles.

Armadillo Other Compromise Erwin Raisz 1943

Designed specifically to
minimize distortion when
GS50 Other Conformal John P. Snyder 1982
used to display all 50 U.S.
states.

Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī;

Nicolosi globular Polyconic[6] reinvented by Giovanni c. 1000
Battista Nicolosi, 1660.[1]:14

Roussilhe oblique
stereographic Henri Roussilhe 1922

Hotine oblique M. Rosenmund, J.

Cylindrical Conformal 1903
Mercator Laborde, Martin Hotine
Key
The designation "deployed" means popularisers/users rather than necessarily creators. The type of projection and the properties preserved by the projection use the following
categories:

Type of projection

Cylindrical
In standard presentation, these map regularly-spaced meridians to equally spaced vertical lines, and parallels to horizontal lines.
Pseudocylindrical
In standard presentation, these map the central meridian and parallels as straight lines. Other meridians are curves (or possibly straight
from pole to equator), regularly spaced along parallels.
Conic
In standard presentation, conic (or conical) projections map meridians as straight lines, and parallels as arcs of circles.
Pseudoconical
In standard presentation, pseudoconical projections represent the central meridian as a straight line, other meridians as complex curves,
and parallels as circular arcs.
Azimuthal
In standard presentation, azimuthal projections map meridians as straight lines and parallels as complete, concentric circles. They are
radially symmetrical. In any presentation (or aspect), they preserve directions from the center point. This means great circles through the
central point are represented by straight lines on the map.
Pseudoazimuthal
In standard presentation, pseudoazimuthal projections map the equator and central meridian to perpendicular, intersecting straight lines.
They map parallels to complex curves bowing away from the equator, and meridians to complex curves bowing in toward the central
meridian. Listed here after pseudocylindrical as generally similar to them in shape and purpose.
Other
Typically calculated from formula, and not based on a particular projection
Polyhedral maps
Polyhedral maps can be folded up into a polyhedral approximation to the sphere, using particular projection to map each face with low
distortion.

Properties

Conformal
Preserves angles locally, implying that local shapes are not distorted and that local scale is constant in all directions from any chosen point.
Equal-area
Area measure is conserved everywhere.
Compromise
Neither conformal nor equal-area, but a balance intended to reduce overall distortion.
Equidistant
All distances from one (or two) points are correct. Other equidistant properties are mentioned in the notes.
Gnomonic
All great circles are straight lines.
Retroazimuthal
Direction to a fixed location B (by the shortest route) corresponds to the direction on the map from A to B.