Gerardus Mercator: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Gerard de Cremer • Gerard de Kremer
Born	March 5, 1512 • Belgium
Died	December 2, 1594 (aged 82) • Duisburg • Germany

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Side-by-side comparison showing a globe of the Earth on the left with accurately proportioned continents, and a Mercator projection map on the right, where landmasses appear increasingly distorted and stretched near the poles, especially between 60 and 90 degrees latitude. The map highlights how the Mercator projection exaggerates the size of high-latitude regions.

Smiling white woman pointing up at a vintage map, superimposed with the text Africa and the Mercator map.

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Gerardus Mercator: Quick Facts

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