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The Mercator projection (/ m ər ˈ k eɪ t ər /) is a conformal cylindrical map projection first presented by Flemish geographer and mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in 1569. In the 18th century, it became the standard map projection for navigation due to its property of representing rhumb lines as straight lines.
This transverse, ellipsoidal form of the Mercator is finite, unlike the equatorial Mercator. Forms the basis of the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system. 1922 Roussilhe oblique stereographic: Henri Roussilhe 1903 Hotine oblique Mercator Cylindrical Conformal M. Rosenmund, J. Laborde, Martin Hotine 1855 Gall stereographic: Cylindrical
(That is, the reciprocal of the cosine of the latitude become infinite). He therefore uses a completely different projection for the inset map of the north polar regions: an azimuthal equidistant projection. It took many years for Mercator's projection to gain wider acceptance. The following gallery shows the first maps in which it was employed.
The Mercator Projection, developed by Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator, was widely used as the standard for two-dimensional world maps until the late 20th century, when more accurate projections were more widely used. Mercator also was the first to use and popularize the concept of the atlas: a collection of maps.
The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. While common, scholars advise against using it for reference maps of the world because it drastically inflates the high latitudes.
A Marsden Square map. Marsden square mapping or Marsden squares is a system that divides a world map with latitude-longitude gridlines (e.g. plate carrée projection, Mercator or other) between 80°N and 70°S latitudes (or 90°N and 80°S) into grid cells of 10° latitude by 10° longitude, each with a geocode, a unique numeric identifier.
Most state plane zones are based on either a transverse Mercator projection or a Lambert conformal conic projection. The choice between the two map projections is based on the shape of the state and its zones. States that are long in the east–west direction are typically divided into zones that are also long east–west.
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM): not a single coordinate system, but a series of 60 zones (each being a gore 6° wide), each a system with its own Transverse Mercator projection. Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS): a pair of coordinate systems covering the Arctic and Antarctica using a Stereographic projection.