THIS LAND IS MY LAND The Map

New Internationalist World Map
ON THE PETERS PROJECTION

The traditional world map uses Mercator’s projection which shows compass directions accurately but distorts the sizes of countries. To improve the area accuracy later maps often use ‘rounded grids’ but these have then distorted the compass directions.

The Peters projection is a true representation both of country size and of the north-south and east-west directions. The distortion of country shape inevitable in any transfer from a globe to a flat surface has been spread as evenly as possible on the Peters map. It is designed so that the minimum distortion occurs not as normal, around the equator, but in the more populated areas along the 45 degree lines of latitude.

The harmonious colour scheme has been chosen to emphasise the connections between countries in the same region, rather than the political divisions.

This English version of the Peters projection is published by the New Internationalist Publications Co-operative in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme.

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