Where Is the Mercator Projection Distorted?

Mercator maps distort the shape and relative size of continents, particularly near the poles. This is why Greenland appears to be similar in size to all of South America on Mercator maps, when in fact South America is more than eight times larger than Greenland.

Where is the Mercator projection most distortion?

Although the linear scale is equal in all directions around any point, thus preserving the angles and the shapes of small objects, the Mercator projection distorts the size of objects as the latitude increases from the equator to the poles, where the scale becomes infinite.

What variable is most distorted on a Mercator projection?

This makes Mercator projections the standard for navigational charts. The drawback to this projection is that size and distance are distorted at high latitudes. This is because the distance between lines of longitude declines as you approach the poles, but they remain constant on a Mercator projection.