Projection lab

Orthographic projection: interactive map

Atlas of error · liveGlobe (Orthographic)Click or tap a country to add its outline

Click a country on the map to add its outline.Tap a country on the map to add its outline.

Loading the map…

Orthographic projection at a glance

Distortion class
Neither equal-area nor conformal
Graticule type
Perspective azimuthal
Creator
Ancient Greeks (used by Hipparchus, among others)
Year
2nd century BC
Area
Distorted; only the center is free of distortion, and areas are compressed more and more toward the edge of the disk
Shape
Highly distorted near the edges (foreshortened perspective)
Distances
Distorted: distances measured from the center shrink toward the edge of the disk
Angles and directions
Distorted; only the center of the map is free of distortion

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.