Azimuthal Equidistant Projection

Azimuthal equidistantCreator: Anonymous; known since at least the 11th centuryYear: ok. 1000

This map has no neutral center. The selected location becomes the reference from which every distance and azimuth is true.

Projection guide

The center of the world is a setting

Meridians radiate from the center and successive distances form concentric circles. Warsaw, Dakar, and the North Pole therefore produce three equally valid but very different maps.

The north-polar aspect is familiar from the UN emblem. Antarctica at the rim is not evidence of a ring continent — it is the antipodal boundary of the disk.

Global Cartographic Grid

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Distortion Properties

PropertyCharacteristic
Area
✅PreservedNot preserved; stretching increases with distance from the center
Shape
❌DistortedGood near the center, strongly flattened at the outer rim
Distances
❌DistortedTrue from the center to every point
Angles & Directions
❌DistortedAzimuths are true only from the center
Continuity
❌DistortedThe whole world fits in a disk; the antipode becomes the outer circle

History & Origin

A family of maps whose meaning depends on the chosen center. The north-polar aspect became the basis of the United Nations emblem, but the same mathematics can place any city or point at the center.

Applications

Range and connectivity maps, radio and aviation planning, polar mapping, and visualizing distances and directions from a single base, city, or antenna.

How to read this map

A radar screen: the center is the antenna and each ring marks an equal distance.

  • Measure from the center, never between two arbitrary points.
  • A radius shows the true azimuth from the center.
  • Change the center to change the question asked of the map.

What you gain and lose

It preserves distance and direction from one point while distorting relationships among all other locations.

Best for

Range, connectivity, polar maps, and distances from a city or base.

Avoid for

Global area comparison and measurements between off-center points.

TEST THIS PROJECTIONCompare countries in Azimuthal Equidistant Projection →GREAT CIRCLE VS RHUMB LINESee routes in Azimuthal Equidistant Projection →
Take the challenge

Can you recognize this projection without the label?

The projection quiz uses graticules and world outlines, so it is a natural next step from this page.

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Daily challenge

One attempt, the same set for everyone

Size Illusion · Build a streak and come back tomorrow for another map.

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✦ How do different countries look in this projection?

Analyze shape distortions of 5 countries in this cartographic projection and test them in the sandbox.

Poland
...

When centered, it becomes the origin of true distance rays.

Test on map →
Greenland
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In the polar view it sits near the center and stops dominating by scale.

Test on map →
Antarctica
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In the polar aspect it is stretched around the outer rim.

Test on map →

Facts worth remembering

  • The UN emblem uses a north-polar aspect.
  • The center's antipode expands into the entire outer rim.
  • Any point can become the center of an equally valid map.

Compare with other projections

The best internal links are the ones that help you think. These projections show different answers to the same problem: how to flatten a sphere.

Azimuthal perspectiveGnomonic ProjectionCompare with this azimuthal perspective projection and see how shapes, area, and readability change.Perspective AzimuthalGlobe (Orthographic)Compare with this perspective azimuthal projection and see how shapes, area, and readability change.Star-like Azimuthal-ConicBerghaus Star ProjectionCompare with this star-like azimuthal-conic projection and see how shapes, area, and readability change.

Keep reading about maps that reshape intuition

Where is the center of the world? The UN map explainedHow the azimuthal equidistant projection works and why Antarctica can become a ring.Why all maps of the world lieFind out why a 3D sphere cannot be perfectly projected onto a flat map. An explanation of Gauss's theorem and Mercator's distortions.Atlas of error: how to read map distortionA practical guide to Tissot's indicatrices, area and angular isocoles, the true-north field, major parallels, and ocean currents.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Distance is true from the map center to any point. A distance between two points away from the center may be distorted.

Yes. The UN emblem uses a North-Pole-centered aspect limited to 60° south and surrounded by olive branches.

In the north-polar aspect, locations near the antipode lie on the disk's outer rim. This is a mathematical consequence of flattening a sphere, not Earth's physical shape.