GallPetersprojektio

GallPetersprojektio is a type of map projection that displays the entire Earth at the same time while attempting to preserve the relative sizes of landmasses. Developed by Arno Peters, it is a variation of the Gall projection and was first presented in 1973. Unlike many other world map projections that distort the size of continents, particularly those closer to the poles, the GallPetersprojektio aims for accurate area representation.

The projection achieves this by stretching or compressing areas in the north-south direction to compensate for the widening of areas in the east-west direction as one moves away from the equator. This results in a map where the size of landmasses, such as Africa and South America, is depicted more accurately relative to the size of countries like Russia or Canada, which appear significantly larger on projections like the Mercator projection. However, this preservation of area comes at the cost of shape distortion. Shapes on the GallPetersprojektio are stretched or compressed, meaning that countries and continents appear elongated or flattened.

The GallPetersprojektio has been adopted by some organizations and educational institutions due to its emphasis on area accuracy, which can be important for understanding global population distribution, resource allocation, and historical migration patterns. Critics, however, argue that the significant shape distortion can lead to misinterpretations of geography and national boundaries. The debate over its use often centers on the relative importance of preserving area versus shape in cartography.