Peters Projection Maps

At JustGlobes we are proud to be able to offer a large range of maps, as well as globes.

Maps can never be as accurate, or as detailed as a globe. This is because it is simply impossible to fully represent a sphere in a 2D rectangle shape. However many different techniques have been produced over the years in order to minimise spatial and directional distortion created when representing a globe on a map. This is important to map enthusiasts world wide as it can be interesting to see the differences in country size and shape depending on the technique or "projection" used.

One very popular globe to map correctional projection is called the peters projection. This page aims to describe the various benefits and drawbacks of this particular projection.

The Peters projection, named after Arno Peters, is one specialization of a configurable equal-area map projection. It is sometimes referred to as a cylindrical equal-area projection.

This projection achieved considerable notoriety in the late 20th century as the centrepiece of a controversy surrounding the political implications of map design. This was because the relative sizes of countries can change slightly when using a projection to represent a globe in 2D.

The Peters projection works by placing two parallel lines across the map. They must be identical distances from their nearest poles, in this case one parallel line is 45 degrees from each pole. Between these lines 36 evenly spaces circles are placed in three rows of 12. Outside of the lines 2 rows of 12 circles are evenly spaced (one for each parallel line).

A mathematical formula is used which distorts each evenly spaced circle by exactly the same amount. This distortion represents the 360 degrees of rotation around a sphere.

It is due to this even distortion that Peters himself argues makes his projection for map creation the most accurate.

Peters World Map


Arno Peters was an amateur historian. He devised a map based on a Gall's orthographic projection in 1967 and presented it as a new invention in 1973. Some argued that this was not suitably different to the original creators in 1855 to warrant being a new invention, but the Peters project map was created nonetheless.

Peters presented his map as a superior alternative to the dominantly used Mercator projection map at the time. The Mercator projection was originally designed for navigation but was at the time used in world maps.

The weakness of the Mercator project is that is that it increasingly inflates the size of countries as the distance from the equator increases. This leads Greenland to appear as the size of Africa when in reality Africa is 14 times larger.

Since much of the technologically undeveloped world lies on or around the equator, they appear smaller and therefore less significant on a Mercator map.

By contrast to this the Peters projection map shows areas of equal size on a globe as equally sized on a map. Restoring less powerful countries to their correct proportions. This reasoning has been picked up by many educational institutions and similarly concerned groups.

The downside of the Peters projection map is that to many it looks different and unfamiliar leading people to believe that it is less accurate than it actually is. Also it suffers from extreme distortion at the polar regions making it useless for all those interested in the coldest places on earth.