# Mercator projection **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 21, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercator-projection/361579 "2006-06-21T14:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercator-projection/361579/1 "2006-06-21T14:47:21Z")
Contrary to what Cecil says in [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_134.html), the Equator _is_ frequently placed two-thirds down the page on Mercator maps. However, he’s still right; the distortion isn’t because of this. The placement of the Equator is simply the result of chopping off the bottom part of the map in order to remove Antarctica, which otherwise would be a gigantic white rectangle along the entire bottom of the map. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercator-projection/361579/2 "2006-06-21T15:04:54Z")
For more information on the controversy described in Cecil’s column, and about how various projections distort the globe, see the first chapter of [this book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226534219/qid=1150901659/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-9177835-5099953?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), which may be short of greatness but is still a worthwhile read. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mercator-projection/361579/3 "2006-06-21T16:40:39Z")
First thing I thought of when I read this column was this episode of _The West Wing_, from Season 2 (aka “the good old days”):[Somebody’s Going to Emergency, Somebody’s Going to Jail](http://www.westwingepguide.com/S2/Episodes/38_SGTESGTJ.html). The scene where the cartographers flip the Mercator map around, etc., and C.J. Cregg’s reaction: priceless!