map projection: Conic Projection

In a conic projection a paper cone is placed on a globe like a hat, tangent to it at some parallel, and a point source of light at the center of the globe projects the surface features onto the cone. The cone is then cut along a convenient meridian and unfolded into a flat surface in the shape of a circle with a sector missing. All parallels are arcs of circles with a pole (the apex of the original cone) as their common center, and meridians appear as straight lines converging toward this same point. Some conic projections are conformal (shape preserving); some are equal-area (size preserving). A polyconic projection uses various cones tangent to the globe at different parallels. Parallels on the map are arcs of circles but are not concentric.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Other Projections
• Azimuthal Projection
• Conic Projection
• Cylindrical Projection
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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