Map projections make all the difference when analyzing a map. They distort the size, the area, the distance, and even can distort our perceptions of the type of people that live in certain areas. For example, the Robinson Map convinced people in the United States that they were superior to people in the southern hemisphere because of the difference in land size. However, this map was skewed and made South America and Africa, two large continents, seem smaller than those of the northern hemisphere. This helped justify imperialism and other extremely racist attitudes towards these people. Projections also make all the difference in distance for sea captains, pilots, and the regular four-door sedan driver. Since distance can vary up to thousands of miles, and since gas is very expensive, the correct map and route is essential for an efficient trip.
Equidistant Projections!
As you can see, just being equidistant does not mean that all related projections are going to look exactly the same. Equidistant conic and equidistant cylindrical cover different parts of the Earth and, thus, produce different distortions of the Earth's land mass. In the equidistant conic projection Antarctica looks very large, as if it's encircling the Earth in an embrace rather than a continent on the South Pole. In the equidistant cylindrical projection Antarctica does not look nearly as imposing, merely large. The equidistant conic also centers the North Pole in the middle of the map, while the equidistant cylindrical projection places the North Pole as the top of the map.
Equal area projections!
The cylindrical equal area map skews the extreme northern and parallels to seem thinner than they actually are. Canada, Greenland, Northern Europe, Russia, and Antarctica seem thin and stretched out at the northern and southern edges of the earth when they are not that way in reality. The Bonne equal area projection makes the Earth into the shape of a heart. While an extremely endearing projection, it is not in any way accurate. Australia and South East Asia are extremely skewed in this projection, making them seem smaller than they actually are.
Conformal projections!
The Eckert I conformal projection map projects the Earth into the shape of a diamond. Another endearing shape, but only accurate in the bulge in the middle. The shapes of the landmasses are impressively well preserved, with only Australia's slight slant as the only thing that really bothers me. The stereographic conformal projection is decidedly different from many projections I've encountered growing up. Australia is an extremely large landmass on this map. So large it doesn't even fit entirely on the map. In fact, New Zealand does not even make it on to the map (nobody likes kiwis anyway). Meanwhile, as Australians assert themselves as the new hegemons, the continent of Africa has been reduced significantly. Could this be another justification for imperialism?
