Robinson vs Equal Earth: what's the difference?
Equal Earth was designed to look like Robinson while keeping area proportions true. At first glance the two maps are almost identical. The difference shows in the numbers: Greenland covers 13.5% of Africa's area on Robinson and 7.1% on Equal Earth, the same as in reality.
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| Feature | Robinson | Equal Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Basics | ||
| Distortion class | Compromise | Equal-area |
| Graticule type | Pseudocylindrical | Pseudocylindrical |
| Creator | Arthur H. Robinson | B. Šavrič, T. Patterson, B. Jenny |
| Year | 1963 | 2018 |
| What it looks like | Parallels are straight lines, meridians are gentle curves, and the poles are lines about half as long as the equator. | Parallels are straight lines, the poles are flat lines, and the sides of the map are gently rounded, much like Robinson. |
| Distortion | ||
| Area | Compromise | Preserved |
| Shape | Compromise | Distorted |
| Distances | Compromise | Distorted |
| Angles and directions | Compromise | Distorted |
| Continuity | Preserved | Preserved |
| By the numbers | ||
| Greenland on the map, as a share of Africa | 13.5%1.9× too large | 7.1%True proportion |
| Average angular distortion over land | 23° | 32° |
| Practical traits | ||
| Map outline | Rectangle with rounded sides | Rectangle with rounded sides |
| Rhumb lines (constant bearing) drawn straight | No | No |
| Great circles (shortest routes) drawn straight | No | No |
| A pole at the centre of the map | No | No |
| Where the map is cut | Nowhere, the map is continuous | Nowhere, the map is continuous |
| All oceans in one piece | No | No |
| Use | ||
| Typical uses | Wall maps, educational atlases, and general geographical publications. It was the primary map projection used by the National Geographic Society from 1988 to 1998. | Scientific publications, school textbooks, and global thematic maps that need to represent datasets relative to actual land area. |
| First choice for | None of the jobs we describe | |
| A good alternative for | ||
| Not recommended for | None of the jobs we describe | |
The “By the numbers” rows are measured when the site is built, on the same maps the lab draws, over a grid of points every half degree (every 2° for all land). The true areas of Greenland and Africa come from our country and continent profiles.
The key differences
- What they keep: Robinson is a compromise, so it distorts everything slightly. Equal Earth is equal-area: every country covers a share of the map proportional to its real area.
- Country sizes: Robinson enlarges areas far from the equator and Equal Earth does not. Greenland covers 13.5% of Africa's area on Robinson and 7.1% on Equal Earth.
- Shapes: Equal Earth pays for true areas with shapes. Its average angular distortion over land is 32°, against 23° on Robinson.
- Look: both maps have straight parallels, flat poles and rounded sides, which is why they are easy to mix up.
- Construction: Equal Earth is defined by simple formulas that are easy to implement in mapping software. Robinson began as a table of coordinates that has to be interpolated.
A successor in the same style
Robinson has long been one of the most popular wall maps. It has one flaw that gets in the way of comparisons, though: it is not equal-area, so countries far from the equator look bigger than they are.
The authors of Equal Earth, Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny, took Robinson as their model for the look. They wanted a map that shows true area proportions without being as stretched as Gall-Peters.
Read more
Frequently asked questions
Not literally, because it is built in a completely different way. Its authors did model its look on Robinson, though, and added what Robinson lacks: true area proportions.
The projection finder recommends Equal Earth for geography lessons and lists Robinson as an alternative. On Equal Earth the sizes of continents can be compared fairly.
A flat map cannot keep both area and angles. Equal Earth keeps area, so shapes lean and bend slightly, especially near the edges of the map.
Other comparisons
Each of these pairs has its own page that explains the differences, gives the historical context and answers common questions.