Central cylindrical projection

Imagine you have a giant globe, like a really big ball. You know how when you look at a globe, different countries look bigger or smaller, depending on where they are located on the globe? That's because a globe is a 3-dimensional object, and when we try to represent it on a 2-dimensional map, there are bound to be some differences in how things look.

One way to turn a 3-dimensional globe into a 2-dimensional map is to use something called a cylindrical projection. This means we take a flat piece of paper and "wrap" it around the globe, forming a cylinder shape around it. Then, we can project the image of the globe onto this cylinder, flatten it out, and voila! We have a 2-dimensional map.

But there are different ways to do this. One way is to use a central cylindrical projection. This means we place the cylinder in the center of the globe, with the axis of the cylinder passing through the north and south poles of the globe. When we flatten out the cylinder and turn it into a map, we end up with a map that has a straight horizontal line across the middle, representing the equator, and vertical lines running from top to bottom, representing lines of longitude (which go from the North Pole to the South Pole).

The central cylindrical projection can sometimes make countries look a little distorted in size and shape, especially the ones closer to the poles. But it's still a useful way to create a map that's easy to read and understand, and it's one of the most common types of map projections used today.