Gall-Peters projection
Topic: Map Projections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Gall-Peters projection is a cylindrical equal-area projection. This means it shows every country with its true size compared with every other country. James Gall described it in 1855. Arno Peters promoted it from 1973 as fairer to Africa, South America and South Asia, which look too small on Mercator maps. Critics point out that tropical shapes look stretched on it. Its main lesson is that every world map carries a point of view.
Example
On a Gall-Peters map, Africa appears about 14 times the size of Greenland, as it really is. On Mercator they look about equal. In 2017, Boston public schools in the USA adopted this projection for classroom maps.
Don't confuse with
- Mercator's projection: Mercator keeps shape but enlarges high-latitude areas. Gall-Peters keeps area but distorts shape.