The orthographic projection
Orthographic is what Earth actually looks like from way out in space — a round ball, not a flat rectangle. You can only ever see one half of it at a time, exactly like looking at a real globe.
Key facts
- Family
- Azimuthal, perspective
- Designer
- Known since antiquity; no single modern inventor
- Year
- Known since antiquity
- Preserves
- —
- Best for
- Showing Earth as a globe or planet — hero images, one hemisphere at a time
- Weak at
- Area and shape near the visible edge; only ever shows one hemisphere
What it looks like
Orthographic draws Earth as a circle, like a photo of a ball. The middle of that circle looks totally normal, but things near the outer edge get squeezed together, because you're looking at a curve almost sideways-on.
What it keeps, and what it distorts
The very center of the view looks true to life. But the farther out toward the edge you look, the more squashed together everything gets, until the very edge is just a thin sliver of compressed land.
Only half the world at a time
Because it's showing you a ball from one side, you can never see the whole world at once — always just one half, with the other half hidden around the back, exactly like a real globe sitting on a desk.
A long history
This is not a new idea — people were drawing the world this way in ancient Greece, long before satellites gave us actual photos of Earth from space, because the geometry of "a ball seen from far away" has always been simple to work out with math.
When to use it, and when not to
Reach for orthographic when you want a map to feel like a planet — a hero image, a spinning globe, something that looks like Earth as seen from space. Don't reach for it if you need to compare sizes or see the whole world at once.
Try it yourself
Frequently asked questions
Why does the orthographic projection only show half the world?
Because it works like a photograph of a ball taken from very far away, anything on the far side of the globe simply isn't visible from that viewpoint. Showing the whole world would need a second view centered on the opposite point.
Is the orthographic projection the same as looking at a globe?
Essentially, yes. Orthographic is what Earth would look like viewed from an infinite distance, which is very close to what a photograph of a real globe or planet looks like. That's exactly why it's used whenever a map needs to feel like a planet rather than a flattened diagram.
What is the orthographic projection used for?
Mostly for visual effect, showing Earth as a globe in illustrations, hero images, or anything meant to feel like a planet, rather than for measurement. Because distortion grows sharply near the visible edge and it can only show one hemisphere at a time, it's a poor tool for comparing sizes or seeing the whole world at once.
Why do countries near the edge look squished on an orthographic map?
Near the edge of the visible hemisphere, the globe's curved surface is turning away from your line of sight, almost parallel to it, which compresses everything there into a narrow band. The center of the view has no such compression, which is why it looks normal while the edges look squeezed.