Noun
a map projection of the earth onto a cylinder; areas appear greater the farther they are from the equator
Source: WordNetA Mercator map can therefore never fully show the polar areas (as long as the projection is based on a cylinder centered on the Earth’s rotation axis; see the Transverse Mercator projection for another application). Source: Internet
At latitudes greater than 70° north or south the Mercator projection is practically unusable, since the linear scale becomes infinitely high at the poles. Source: Internet
Cylindrical seeAlso The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. Source: Internet
Distortion main Tissot's Indicatrices on the Mercator projection The classical way of showing the distortion inherent in a projection is to use Tissot's indicatrix. Source: Internet
For example, the 'exact' version of the Transverse Mercator projection on the ellipsoid is not a double projection. Source: Internet
However, despite such distortions, Mercator projection was, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the most common projection used in world maps, but in this use, it has much been criticized. Source: Internet