Map Projections and Their Impacts

What is the fundamental challenge cartographers face when creating flat maps from a globe?

• Maintaining consistent color schemes.

• Representing a 3D surface on a 2D plane without distortion.

• Ensuring all country names are legible.

• Accurately depicting ocean currents.

What was the primary purpose of the Mercator projection when it was first created?

• To accurately show the relative sizes of continents.

• To provide a simple and reliable way to navigate oceans.

• To highlight population density across the globe.

• To illustrate the Earth's topographical features.

Which aspect of geographical representation is significantly distorted in the Mercator projection, especially for areas near the poles?

• The shapes of countries.

• The relative sizes of landmasses.

• The direction between two points.

• The color representation of different regions.

What is the main characteristic of the Gall-Peters projection?

• It accurately preserves the shapes of continents.

• It maintains accurate distances between all points.

• It is an equal-area map, accurately representing landmass sizes.

• It is primarily used for aerial navigation.

How did the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS) impact the primary purpose of map projections?

• It made map projections obsolete.

• It shifted the focus of map projections from navigation to aesthetics and design.

• It led to the exclusive use of the Mercator projection.

• It increased the need for paper maps for navigation.