Web Mercator projection

The Web Mercator projection is almost indistinguishable at global scale from a Mercator projection cropped to around 85°N to 85°S
Homepage of OpenStreetMap in 2018. The standard style for OpenStreetMap, like most Web maps, uses the Web Mercator projection

Web Mercator, Google Web Mercator, Spherical Mercator, WGS 84 Web Mercator[1] or WGS 84/Pseudo-Mercator is a variant of the Mercator map projection and is the de facto standard for Web mapping applications. It rose to prominence when Google Maps adopted it in 2005.[2] It is used by virtually all major online map providers, including Google Maps, CARTO, Mapbox,[3] Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapquest, Esri, and many others.[4] Its official EPSG identifier is EPSG:3857, although others have been used historically.

  1. ^ "WGS 84 and the Web Mercator Projection NGA Office of Geomatics" (PDF). National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2014-05-16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  2. ^ "Google Maps & Earth Help Forum". Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Our Map Data". MapBox. Retrieved June 20, 2018. Mapbox supports the popular Web Mercator projection, and currently does not support any other projections for display.
  4. ^ Battersby, Sarah E.; Finn, Michael P.; Usery, E. Lynn; Yamamoto, Kristina H. (2014). "Implications of Web Mercator and Its Use in Online Mapping" (PDF). Cartographica. 49 (2): 92. doi:10.3138/carto.49.2.2313. S2CID 6403891. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015.