For updated information on the global population:

The International Data Base of the U.S. Census Bureau, available online at http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb. Click on the Data Access tab on this Web site to view a variety of demographic indicators for each country, including past, present, and estimated population from 1950 to 2050. Country data can be viewed both as a table and as a population pyramid. The U.S. and World Population Clocks, which are constantly updated, can be found at http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html.

Contents of the Atlas

Political Maps:

Map Sources

Political map of the world, Mollweide projection: © Map Resources.

Political maps of Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Oceania, North America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America: Adapted by Sandra Sauvajot from Maps for Graphic Design, © Map Resources.

Political map of the Arctic: Perry-Casteñada Library Map Collection, University of Texas Libraries.

Global topographical map: © Map Resources.

World Map, Mollweide Projection

Africa

Antarctica

Arctic Region

Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania

Asia

Southeast Asia

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Caribbean

North America: United States and Canada

North America: Mexico and Central America

South America

Topographical Map of the World

Map Projections

Cartographers use a variety of projections to represent the spherical surface of Earth on a flat map. Because it is mathematically impossible to render a globe on a plane without changing the spatial configuration of the data involved, all such mapping involves some degree of distortion, so in choosing a projection, the cartographer will consider what properties are most important to preserve, at the cost of some other properties. For example, projections may accurately represent or distort the area (equivalence), shape (conformality), direction, distance, and scale of Earth's features, but not all of these simultaneously. Projections are important because maps shape how we view the world, and their distortions often enter into our geographical imaginations. Different types of projections are useful for different cartographic purposes. See the Map Projections entry in this encyclopedia for a detailed description of different types of projections.

The majority of the maps in this encyclopedia use the Mercator projection, developed in the 16th century by Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish cartographer. Intended for navigation, it uses a rectangular grid that shows constant bearings as straight lines, and hence became popular among navigators. It remains the most commonly used map projection today, reproduced in countless classrooms, atlases, and textbooks. However, the Mercator projection greatly exaggerates the size of areas at higher latitudes (for example, Greenland is only as eighth as large as South America, but its area appears much greater on a Mercator map). In 1989, several North American geographical organizations passed a resolution urging the use of alternative projections.

The Mollweide projection, created in 1805 by the German mathematician Carl B. Mollweide, is a more accurate representation of the size of areas, but distances and shapes are distorted.

The Fuller dymaxion projection, created by R. Buckminster Fuller in the mid 20th century, is useful in showing the interconnectedness of Earth's landmasses and has less distortion of areas than the Mercator projection. It is used in this encyclopedia to show Earth's cryosphere (see Ice entry).

Developed in 1923 by John Paul Goode, the interrupted Goode homosoline projection presents the world in discrete regions in order to minimize distortions of size and shape. It is useful for showing raster data, in which a geographical area is divided into cells identified by row and column.

Mercator projection: This projection distorts the size of regions far from the equator. For example, Greenland appears to be larger than South America, but in fact, South America is eight times larger.

Source: Barney Warf.

Mollweide projection: A Visible Earth image collected by the Earth Observatory experiment of the U.S. government's NASA space agency. The reticle is 15 degrees in latitude and longitude.

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Buckminster Fuller or “Dymaxion map” projection: Earth's cryosphere. Snow cover extent for Northern Hemisphere is represented by the 1966–2005 February average, for Southern Hemisphere by the 1987–2003 August average. Sea ice extent for Northern Hemisphere is represented by the 1979–2003 March average, for Southern Hemisphere by the 1979–2002 September average. Permafrost data for mountain areas and for the Southern Hemisphere are not represented in this map; neither are river and lake ice.

Source: UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. June 2007. UNEP/GRID-Arendal. Cartography by Hugo Ahlenius. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/the-cryosphere-world-map.

Interrupted Goode homolosine projection: A Goode projection of a Visible Earth image collected by the Earth Observatory experiment of the U.S. government's NASA space agency.

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

[Page 3170]