A map projection is a flat representation of the Earth's global surface. There are for different types of projections-- those that focus on distance, those that focus on direction, those that focus on area, and those that focus on shape. Conformal map projections are the type that show the correct size of continents but distort area size.
The equal-area projection shows size of various land masses.
The Mercator projection distorts the size of land masses as it represents the Earth's curved surface on a flat plane. This projection maintains angles and shapes, making it useful for navigation, but it stretches areas near the poles significantly. As a result, regions like Greenland and Antarctica appear much larger than they are in reality, while equatorial regions are shown more accurately. This distortion occurs because the projection uses a cylindrical method, which cannot perfectly represent the spherical shape of the Earth.
Equal-Area projection
Well the Peter's Projection IS a "real map," as you say; or rather, another projection. There are hundreds out there and none are better than any others. It just depends on what you're using it for. The Peter's Projection is just an image of the world that, when it was brought out in 1974, was different than anyone had previously seen, since the Mercator projection in 1596. The Peter's Projection basically is a more accurate version of what you are referring to as a "real map." A Mercator projection shows the shapes of land masses as they appear on a globe, but flattened out, which gives an extremely inaccurate picture of the size of the masses. (For instance, it shows Greenland as being roughly the same size as Africa, when in fact it 14 times smaller!!) The Peter's was created in order to show the true size of land masses, in a more fair representation. It does, however, sacrifice true shape.The best thing you can do is look at images of several projections next to each other so that you can see what I mean.Check out website with URL in related links for Explanation & Guide of the Peters World Map.
Continental air masses form in the United States
The cylindrical map projection, such as the Mercator projection, shows all latitude and longitude lines as parallel. However, this projection distorts the size of land masses the further they are from the equator.
Mercator projection distorts the size of land masses, resulting in high distortion near the poles. Equal area projections maintain accurate land area proportions, making them useful for representing data like population density.
Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish cartographer, is famous for creating the Mercator projection map in the 16th century. This projection greatly helped in maritime navigation but distorts the size of land masses as they get closer to the poles.
Greenland appears larger on a Mercator map projection compared to a Robinson map projection. The Mercator projection distorts the size of land masses as they near the poles, resulting in Greenland appearing much larger than it actually is.
One disadvantage of the Mercator projection is that it distorts the size of land masses towards the poles, making countries near the equator appear smaller than they actually are. This can lead to misrepresentations of true land sizes and distances on the map.
A mapmaking method that minimizes distortion of land masses is the Equal Area projection, which preserves accurate relative sizes of land areas. Examples include the Mollweide and Goode's Homolosine projections.
The equal-area projection shows size of various land masses.
The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection that distorts the size of land masses as they get closer to the poles, making areas near the poles appear larger than they actually are. This projection is commonly used in marine navigation due to its ability to maintain straight lines of constant bearing.
The Mercator projection distorts the size of land masses as it represents the Earth's curved surface on a flat plane. This projection maintains angles and shapes, making it useful for navigation, but it stretches areas near the poles significantly. As a result, regions like Greenland and Antarctica appear much larger than they are in reality, while equatorial regions are shown more accurately. This distortion occurs because the projection uses a cylindrical method, which cannot perfectly represent the spherical shape of the Earth.
The Peters map projection was created by German historian Arno Peters in 1973 as an alternative to the traditional Mercator map projection. The Peters map aims to provide a more accurate representation of the relative sizes of land masses by distorting shapes.
The Mercator projection is a cylindrical projection, where the meridians are equally spaced vertical lines and the parallels are horizontal lines parallel to the equator. It distorts the size of land masses as they get farther from the equator, making areas like Greenland appear much larger than they actually are.
The Robinson Compromise Projection is a map projection created by Arthur H. Robinson in 1963. It aims to minimize distortions of both area and shape, making it useful for world maps. It strikes a balance between maintaining accurate land masses and preserving an aesthetically pleasing appearance.