Which projection type is designed to preserve the size of geographic areas across the map?

• A. Equal area
• B. Orthographic projection
• C. Parallels
• D. Meridian

Answer: (A)

Preserving the size of geographic areas on a map is achieved by using an equal-area projection. The key idea is to keep the areas of regions proportional to their true sizes on Earth, even though shapes may become distorted in the process of flattening a 3D globe to a 2D map. This makes equal-area projections ideal for comparing how large or small different regions are, such as when assessing land area or population density by territory.

In other projections, like the orthographic view that mimics looking at the globe from space, area and shape aren’t preserved consistently across the map; it’s more about a realistic perspective than accurate area relationships. The terms parallel and meridian refer to lines of latitude and longitude, not to a projection type themselves; they delineate the grid used on maps but don’t determine whether areas are preserved.