Geographical or cartographic anamorphosis it is a form of representation of the geographic space in which there is a distortion of the proportionality between territories to adapt them to the quantitative data that guide the map. The word anamorphosis originates from the combination of two Greek terms (ana: "over" + morphê: "form"), which can be understood as "formed again".
Anamorphic maps, as these representations are known cartographic, are elaborated from the analysis of quantitative data referring to a certain area.
Example:
Absolute Population (2017)
China: 1,357,000,000 inhabitants (area: 9,597,000 km²)
Australia: 23,300,000 inhabitants (area: 7,692,000 km²)
If the theme chosen to prepare the anamorphic map is Absolute population per country, we will have China with its dimensions extremely "exaggerated" in relation to size usually represented on the planisphere, and Australia would be represented by a thin “scratch” to the south of the globe.
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This is because, although the areas of the two countries are similar, China has approximately 57 times the population of Australia. This difference between the data can be visually noticed on the anamorphic type map, which is nothing more than a direct way of representing information, in addition to allowing comparisons.
In general, this type of map is used in a didactic way to illustrate quantitative information related to the population and to the relations of appropriation of geographical space at a global level, such as the population, the GDP, child mortality, exports, polluting gas emissions, agricultural or industrial production, among others.
By Amarolina Ribeiro
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
RIBEIRO, Amarolina. "What is geographic anamorphosis?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/geografia/o-que-e-anamorfose-geografica.htm. Accessed on July 27, 2021.
