Plate Carrée (equirectangular) projection: interactive map

Plate Carrée (equirectangular) projection at a glance

Distortion class

Equidistant

Graticule type

Cylindrical

Creator

Marinus of Tyre

Year

c. AD 100

Area

Highly distorted: grows with distance from the equator (horizontal stretching toward the poles)

Shape

Highly distorted (horizontal stretching near the poles)

Distances

Partially preserved: true along every meridian and along the equator

Angles and directions

Distorted; only north, south, east, and west are always correct (plus local directions along the equator)

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.