About the Equal Earth Projection

Creation in 2018

The Equal Earth map projection was developed in 2018 by cartographers Bojan Šavrič (Environmental Systems Research Institute), Bernhard Jenny (Monash University), and Tom Patterson (US National Park Service, retired).

It was published in the academic journal International Journal of Geographical Information Science in response to a growing public debate about map projections in schools and media. In 2017, the Boston Public School district made headlines by dropping Mercator wall maps in favor of the Gall-Peters projection. While Gall-Peters solved Mercator's area exaggeration, it severely distorted the shapes of continents, particularly stretching tropical regions vertically and squashing polar areas horizontally.

Šavrič, Jenny, and Patterson asked: "Can we create a map projection that guarantees 100% equal relative area, but looks as visually natural and graceful as the Robinson projection?"

The result was Equal Earth.

Mathematical Characteristics

• Pseudocylindrical: All parallels of latitude are straight, horizontal lines, enabling effortless climatic and latitudinal comparisons.
• Equal-Area (Equivalent): The ratio of the area of any region on the map to the area of the region on the sphere is strictly constant everywhere.
• Curved Meridians: Meridians are smoothly curved, equally spaced along parallels, avoiding jarring corners or severe shearing.
• Graceful Poles: Rather than collapsing the poles to infinite lines (like Mercator) or harsh flat edges, Equal Earth gives them a balanced, curved appearance.

The Mission of EqualEarthMap.in

Static paper maps and flat images only go so far. When you see an unfamiliar map projection, you want to inspect countries, search your hometown, test whether Africa really is 14 times larger than Greenland, and explore continental proportions for yourself.

EqualEarthMap.in was built to make Equal Earth interactive, accessible, and fast for everyone: students, educators, geography enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the real shape and scale of our planet.