Home▸Mathematics▸2D Map Projections — Mercator vs Mollweide vs Orthographic

2D Map Projections — Mercator vs Mollweide vs Orthographic

A real 2D map-projection calculator: five forward-projection formulas (Equirectangular, Mercator, Mollweide, Orthographic, Stereographic) applied to a live lat/lon graticule and two test landmasses, with a numerically computed area-distortion heatmap, a draggable Mercator-vs-anything comparison split, and drag-to-recentre rotation.

Mathematics2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

Details

CategoryMathematics

RenderingCanvas 2D

DifficultyModerate

Target FPS60

ControlsSelect the main projection from the dropdown; drag the map to recentre it (rotates the globe under Orthographic/Stereographic, shifts the central meridian under the cylindrical projections). Toggle Compare mode to split the view between two projections with a draggable slider. Toggle Graticule, Distortion heatmap and Landmasses layers independently.

map projectionsmercatormollweideorthographicstereographiccartographyarea distortion2Dgraticule

Related simulations

Parametric Spirograph PatternsExplore intricate spirograph patterns by adjusting the radii of two concentric circles and…

Fractal ExplorerMandelbrot and Julia sets rendered with smooth-colouring GLSL shaders. Pan, zoom, switch…

Number SpiralsUlam spiral (prime diagonals), Sacks spiral, Fibonacci sunflower and composite highlight… ⊞ All 343 in Mathematics →

This 2D companion to the 3D Spherical Projections simulation computes five real map-projection formulas directly (Equirectangular, Mercator, Mollweide, Orthographic, Stereographic) on a canvas, applies them to a live 15° lat/lon graticule and two simplified test landmasses (Greenland and Africa), and shades every graticule cell by its true, numerically differentiated area-distortion factor. Drag the map to recentre or rotate it, and switch on Compare mode to split the view between any two projections of the exact same graticule with a draggable divider.

⚙ Under the hood

A real 2D map-projection calculator: five forward-projection formulas (Equirectangular, Mercator, Mollweide, Orthographic, Stereographic) applied to a live lat/lon graticule and two test landmasses, with a numerically computed area-distortion heatmap, a draggable comparison split between any two projections, and drag-to-recentre rotation.

map projectionsmercatormollweideorthographicstereographiccartographyarea distortion2Dgraticule

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install