- Distortion class
- Conformal
- Graticule type
- Cylindrical
- Creator
- Gerardus Mercator
- Year
- 1569
- Area
- Highly distorted: enlargement grows toward the poles (Greenland looks larger than South America, though it is only about one eighth of its size)
- Shape
- Preserved locally (conformal projection)
- Distances
- Distorted: scale is true only along the equator (or chosen standard parallels) and grows toward the poles
- Angles and directions
- Preserved locally; every straight line on the map is a rhumb line, a line of constant compass bearing
Add countries from the tools panel and drag them to other latitudes. The outline keeps its true shape and area on the globe, so any change in its size on the map shows this projection's distortion. Tissot's indicatrices and the area distortion map show the same effect across the whole world.
