Description
The Earth is a spherical shape. Representing it on a flat surface as a map means making compromises.
The Mercator projection
Many people are aware of the Mercator projection. It was developed by the Flemish polymath, Gerard Mercator, in the 16th Century and became an essential tool for mariners and seafarers as it created straight navigational lines.
However, in doing so, it distorts the shapes and sizes of the land masses, giving a disproportionate prominence to Europe, North America and the northern hemisphere compared to the southern hemisphere (e.g. on the Mercator projection, Greenland is shown as being about the same size as South America when in fact it is nine times smaller).
The Gall-Peters projection
The Peters World Map, now known as the Gall-Peters Projection, was developed and first published in 1855 by the Scottish clergyman James Gall.
However, at that time, it was largely unnoticed. In 1967, the German filmmaker Arno Peters developed a similar projection, which he published in 1973.
It is a rectangular, equal-area map projection. The shapes of the land masses are, again, distorted. However, their sizes are in proportion to each other. This counters the Europe/North America/Northern hemisphere bias that has contributed to misinformation and stereotypes, particularly about Africa and the Southern hemisphere.
There is more information about the contrasts between the Gall-Peters and Mercator projections in the bottom margin of the map.
Map specification
- Size: 590 x 840 mm folded to A4
- Price: £3.50 each (usual price £5.00) plus £1.50 postage and packaging
- Bulk discount: For 10 or more maps, the cost is £3.00 each, including postage and packaging.
