Editing Gall–Peters projection (section)

{{Short description|Cylindrical equal-area map projection}}
[[File:Gall–Peters projection SW.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|The Gall–Peters projection of the world map]]
The '''Gall–Peters projection''' is a rectangular, [[Equal-area projection|equal-area]] [[map projection]]. Like all equal-area projections, it distorts most shapes. It is a [[cylindrical equal-area projection]] with latitudes 45° north and south as the regions on the map that have no distortion. The projection is named after [[James Gall]] and [[Arno Peters]].

Gall described the projection in 1855 at a science convention and published a paper on it in 1885.<ref name="Gall">{{Cite journal | last1 = Gall | first1 = James | year = 1885 | title = Use of cylindrical projections for geographical, astronomical, and scientific purposes | url = http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/files/9461/E001639254.pdf| journal = Scottish Geographical Magazine | volume = 1 | issue = 4| pages = 119–123 | doi = 10.1080/14702548508553829 }}</ref> Peters brought the projection to a wider audience beginning in the early 1970s through his "Peters World Map". The name "Gall–Peters projection" was first used by [[Arthur H. Robinson]] in a pamphlet put out by the American Cartographic Association in 1986.<ref name="ACA1986">American Cartographic Association's Committee on Map Projections, 1986. ''Which Map is Best'' p. 12. Falls Church: American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.</ref>

The Gall–Peters projection achieved notoriety in the late 20th century as the centerpiece of a controversy about the political implications of map design.<ref name="Crampton">{{Cite journal | last1 = Crampton | first1 = Jeremy | year = 1994 | title = Cartography's defining moment: The Peters projection controversy, 1974–1990 | journal = Cartographica | volume = 31 | issue = 4| pages = 16–32 | doi=10.3138/1821-6811-l372-345p}}</ref>