A Low-Distortion Oblique Map Projection of the World’s Landmasses

Abstract

This study presents the development of a world map projection intended to minimize distortion of all continents. I begin by reviewing a very similar map projection developed by Canters (2002), and address its shortcomings by carefully fine-tuning the initial constraints and the method of optimization, while retaining the most useful ideas of this earlier map. Most notably, the method described in this paper puts a great emphasis on the outline of the map, so that its aesthetics make it more suitable for atlases; the method also exclusively uses reproducible, deterministic methods. Finally, I compare the resulting world map to the original one of Canters in terms of map distortions and practical usefulness. The method presented here should work without changes if a low-distortion map of any other global-scale area is needed.