Interactive world map
Equal Earth projection
Compare the same countries on two maps, then see how much Mercator inflates their area.
Loading Equal Earth and Mercator maps…
Start with Greenland and Africa, then choose any country.About the projection
A world map that keeps area in proportion
The Equal Earth projection gives a region the same share of map area as its share of Earth’s surface. A country twice the area of another takes up twice as much space on the map. Move north on Mercator and that relationship changes, because the map stretches higher latitudes.
Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny introduced Equal Earth in 2018. Their original paper explains how they combined an equal-area projection with a curved, Robinson-like outline.
How to compare countries
- Choose a country and a comparison region, or try a preset.
- Find the same colored outlines on both maps. The two maps share a common area scale at the equator.
- Read the geographic area ratio and the Mercator apparent area ratio below the maps.
- Move the white circle with the latitude slider to isolate the effect of latitude.
The country selectors work with a keyboard and support typing to jump to a name. Share comparison copies a link with your countries, map center, grid, and circle settings.
Mercator vs Equal Earth
Mercator keeps local angles on a sphere, which is useful when working with compass bearings. The price is area distortion. At 60° latitude, a tiny patch takes up four times the area of an equal-sized patch at the equator.
Equal Earth keeps areas in proportion everywhere. It gives up local shape, angle, distance, and direction accuracy to do that. A flat world map always involves a trade-off.
Correct the Map · September 2026
What did the United Nations change?
On September 4, 2026, the UN General Assembly adopted the “Correct the Map” resolution, A/RES/80/307. It encourages Equal Earth and other equal-area projections for uses where comparing continental areas matters. It does not prohibit Mercator or make every map use the same projection.
The African Union’s announcement describes the initiative to represent Africa’s area more accurately. The resolution is new; the Equal Earth algorithm has been available since 2018.
Equal Earth projection FAQ
What is the Equal Earth projection?
Equal Earth is an equal-area world map projection created in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny. Countries and continents keep their relative geographic areas. Its curved outline resembles the Robinson projection, but Robinson does not preserve area.
How is Equal Earth different from Mercator?
Equal Earth preserves area ratios. Mercator preserves local angles on a sphere and shows constant compass bearings as straight lines, which makes it useful for navigation. Mercator enlarges regions farther from the equator. Equal Earth changes shapes and angles to keep area ratios correct.
Why does Greenland look so different next to Africa?
Greenland lies far north, where Mercator stretches area strongly. Most of Africa lies closer to the equator. Africa is roughly 14 times Greenland’s geographic area, a relationship that Equal Earth preserves. The exact ratio displayed here comes from the simplified outlines used in both maps.
Is Equal Earth the UN’s new world map? Did the UN ban Mercator?
The UN General Assembly adopted the “Correct the Map” resolution on September 4, 2026. It encourages Equal Earth and other equal-area maps when comparing continental areas matters. It does not ban Mercator or require a single projection for every purpose. Equal Earth itself dates to 2018.
Is Equal Earth free of distortion?
No flat world map can preserve everything. Equal Earth preserves area, but it distorts shapes, local angles, distances, and directions. It works well for world maps about population, land, or other geographic comparisons, rather than precise navigation.
What are EPSG:8857 and +proj=eqearth?
EPSG:8857 identifies WGS 84 / Equal Earth Greenwich, a projected coordinate reference system. PROJ uses +proj=eqearth. This browser tool uses D3’s spherical geoEqualEarth implementation and approximate outline areas; it is not an ellipsoidal GIS measurement service.
How the numbers are calculated
Geographic area is the spherical area of each complete outline, using an Earth radius of 6,371.0088 km. The Mercator multiplier divides the projected polygon area by that spherical area at a common unit-sphere scale. It uses the whole outline, including islands and holes, rather than the latitude of a country’s center.
Both maps have the same projection scale, so a square unit has the same area meaning at the equator. Equal Earth preserves that scale across the map; Mercator does not. Re-centering moves the map’s cut line without changing the area ratios. The maps clip Mercator at ±85.0511°. When a region crosses that limit, its full Mercator multiplier and comparison ratio are withheld.
The white circle has a fixed angular radius of 4°, so its geographic area stays constant. Its Mercator result measures the whole circle. That differs slightly from the tiny-patch formula, 1 / cos²(latitude).
Outlines are world-atlas 2.0.2, derived from Natural Earth 4.1.0 at 1:110 million scale, bundled on September 6, 2026. Approximate map areas can differ from published national totals because the coastline, lakes, islands, and boundaries are simplified. Africa is the combined African country and territory outlines available in this dataset.
Natural Earth data is public domain. Boundaries follow that dataset’s de facto representation, including separately drawn disputed regions. They are retained as supplied and do not imply endorsement by Runcell or the UN.
Projection references: D3 geoEqualEarth and PROJ Equal Earth. For GIS work, use an appropriate coordinate reference system such as WGS 84 / Equal Earth Greenwich, EPSG:8857.