The Mercator planisphere, developed in 1569, revolutionized cartography by favoring the representation of temperate latitudes, thus minimizing the extent of the intertropical zone. This method, while practical for navigation, considerably distorts regions located at high latitudes. In contrast, the Peters planisphere, designed in 1976, takes a different approach by seeking to represent territories with their real surface. This attempt at precision, however, results in a distortion of shapes, such as the exaggerated elongation of Africa relative to Greenland. More recently, the planisphere using a polar projection aims to offer a new representation of the Earth by respecting both the surface and the shape of the continents. However, this method leads to a separation of the continents, making for example the distance between Africa and South America incorrect. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, reflecting the challenges inherent in faithfully representing our planet on a flat surface.
