<P> The Gall--Peters projection is a rectangular map projection that maps all areas such that they have the correct sizes relative to each other . Like any equal - area projection, it achieves this goal by distorting most shapes . The projection is a particular example of the cylindrical equal - area projection with latitudes 45 ° north and south as the regions on the map that have no distortion . </P> <P> The projection is named after James Gall and Arno Peters . Gall is credited with describing the projection in 1855 at a science convention . He published a paper on it in 1885 . Peters brought the projection to a wider audience beginning in the early 1970s by means of the "Peters World Map". The name "Gall--Peters projection" seems to have been used first by Arthur H. Robinson in a pamphlet put out by the American Cartographic Association in 1986 . </P>

What compares distance on a map with distance on earth