Skip to main content

projection

Projections are methods of transforming the coordinates of locations on a three-dimensional planet to a two-dimensional plane.

Mapbox GL JS supports displaying maps in the following projections:

  • Globe: A view of Earth from space
  • Equal-area projections: Relative size of areas is accurate, but shapes are distorted
  • Conformal projections: Shapes and angles are accurate, but sizes are distorted
  • Compromise projections: A balance of size and shape distortion

Learn more about the uses of each in the Mapbox GL JS projection guide.

Mapbox tools accept coordinate inputs as follows:

  • Mapbox Tiling Service and Mapbox SDKs for mobile and web accept GeoJSON that follows the GeoJSON standard for a geographic coordinate reference system equivalent to OGC:CRS84, using the WGS84 datum, decimal degrees, and longitude and latitude units (in that order).

  • The Mapbox Uploads API accepts data inputs in a variety of formats and projections.

Note on EPSG:4326
Later versions of the EPSG:4326 coordinate reference system order coordinates as latitude,longitude, which is the reverse order of coordinates in OGC:CRS84. Most Mapbox upload tools require coordinates ordered as longitude,latitude.

Related resources:

Was this page helpful?