
What is a Robinson Map projection most often used for?
The Robinson projection is primarily appropriate for general world maps. National Geographic used it for their world maps for about a decade until 1998. There are two variants available in ArcGIS: Robinson uses computation algorithm described by J.P. Snyder.
Why is the Robinson Map projection is considered very useful?
The Robinson projection is useful from a topography standpoint and from a nation-recognition instructional view. Today’s map makers can easily add the borders of countries onto this visualization because the accuracy of the continents is so high.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Robinson projection?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a Robinson projection? Advantage: The Robinson map projection shows most distances, sizes and shapes accurately. Disadvantage: The Robinson map does have some distortion around the poles and edges. What are the advantages of a Robinson map? The Robinson projection is unique.
What are the pros and cons of the Robinson projection?
- It forces the map to create a distortion away from the equator.
- Its usefulness is limited in the polar regions of the planet.
- You cannot compare the area of landmasses with a Mercator projection.
- It makes Europe and North America seem more important.

What is Robinson projection?
The Robinson projection is a commonly used world map cylindrical projection. This map projection, also known as a compromise, presents an entire view of the globe’s surface at once.
How big is each red circle in the Robinson projection map?
Robinson projection map that exemplifies its distortion. Each red circle is 1,000 km in diameter.
What is a map projection?
A map projection is a cartographic technique used to show the Earth’s three-dimensional surface in two dimensions. There are different types of map projections including Mercator, Dymaxion, Gall-Peters, AutherGraph, and Robinson. The Robinson projection is a commonly used world map cylindrical projection. This map projection, also known as a compromise, presents an entire view of the globe’s surface at once. Unlike most map projections, the Robinson projection is neither constructed using any mathematical formula nor drawn to scale and was constructed to show a pleasing image of the entire globe.
When did the National Geographic Society use the Robinson Map Projection?
The National Geographic Society used the Robinson Map Projection between 1988 and 1998, after which it adopted the Winkel tripel projection. Winkel tripel projection map. The National Geographic Society switched from using the Robinson projection to using this map because it is less distorted at the poles.
What are distortions near the outer parallels at high latitudes?
The distortions become less objectionable moving away from the poles. The projection also distorts distance, area, shapes, and direction.
Why was the Robinson projection created?
It was specifically created in an attempt to find a good compromise to the problem of readily showing the whole globe as a flat image. The Robinson projection was devised by Arthur H. Robinson in 1963 in response to an appeal from the Rand McNally company, which has used the projection in general-purpose world maps since that time.
When did NGS abandon the Robinson projection?
In 1998 NGS abandoned the Robinson projection for that use in favor of the Winkel tripel projection, as the latter "reduces the distortion of land masses as they near the poles".
Is the meridian spaced along the parallel?
With x computed as constant multiplier to the meridian across the entire parallel, meridians of longitude are thus equally spaced along the parallel.
Is Robinson projection conformal?
Strengths and weaknesses. The Robinson projection is neither equal-area nor conformal, abandoning both for a compromise. The creator felt that this produced a better overall view than could be achieved by adhering to either.
What is the Robinson projection?
The Robinson projection is perhaps the most commonly used compromise pseudocylindrical map projection for world maps. National Geographic used the Robinson projection for their world maps for about a decade until 1998. The projection was designed by Arthur H. Robinson in 1963 at the request of the Rand McNally Company using graphic design rather ...
When did National Geographic use the Robinson projection?
Usage. The Robinson projection is primarily appropriate for general world maps. National Geographic used it for their world maps for about a decade until 1998.
Which variant uses the semimajor axis for the radius?
Both variants support spheres only. For an ellipsoid, the Robinson variant uses an authalic radius and the Robinson ArcInfo variant uses the semimajor axis for the radius.
Is Robinson a pseudocylindric projection?
Robinson is a pseudocylindric projection. The meridians are regularly distributed curves mimicking elliptical arcs. They are concave toward the central meridian and do not intersect the parallels at right angles. The parallels are unequally distributed straight lines. The equator, both poles, and the central meridian are projected as straight lines. The central meridian is 0.5072 times the length of the projected equator and pole lines are 0.5322 as long as equator. The graticule is symmetric across the equator and the central meridian.
Who created the right appearing projection?
The projection was designed by Arthur H. Robinson in 1963 at the request of the Rand McNally Company using graphic design rather than mathematical equation development. It was briefly called the orthophanic ("right appearing") projection after its introduction. It is available in ArcGIS Pro 1.0 and later and in ArcGIS Desktop 8.0 and later.
Does area distortion change with longitude?
Area distortion grows with latitude and does not change with longitude. High latitude areas are exaggerated. Angular distortion is moderate near the center of the map and increases toward the edges. Distortion values are symmetric across the equator and the central meridian.
Who wrote the book "A new map projection: its development and characteristics"?
Robinson, A . (1974). "A new map projection: its development and characteristics." In: Kirschbaum, G. M. (eds.), Meine, K.-H. (eds.). International Yearbook of Cartography, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany: Kirschbaum, 145-55.

Overview
Strengths and weaknesses
The Robinson projection is neither equal-area nor conformal, abandoning both for a compromise. The creator felt that this produced a better overall view than could be achieved by adhering to either. The meridians curve gently, avoiding extremes, but thereby stretch the poles into long lines instead of leaving them as points.
Hence, distortion close to the poles is severe, but quickly declines to moderate levels moving aw…
Formulation
The projection is defined by the table:
The table is indexed by latitude at 5-degree intervals; intermediate values are calculated using interpolation. Robinson did not specify any particular interpolation method, but it is reported that others used either Aitken interpolation (with polynomials of unknown degrees) or cubic splines while analyzing area deformation on the Robinson projection. The X column is the ratio of the le…
Applications
The Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook uses the Robinson projection in its political and physical world maps.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommends using the Robinson projection for mapping the whole world.
See also
• List of map projections
• Cartography
• Kavrayskiy VII
Further reading
• Arthur H. Robinson (1974). "A New Map Projection: Its Development and Characteristics". In: International Yearbook of Cartography. Vol 14, 1974, pp. 145–155.
• John B. Garver Jr. (1988). "New Perspective on the World". In: National Geographic, December 1988, pp. 911–913.
• John P. Snyder (1993). Flattening The Earth—2000 Years of Map Projections, The University of Chicago Press. pp. 214–216.
External links
• Table of examples and properties of all common projections, from radicalcartography.net
• Numerical evaluation of the Robinson projection, from Cartography and Geographic Information Science, April, 2004 by Cengizhan Ipbuker