The Natural Earth II world map projection

The Natural Earth II projection is a new compromise pseudocylindrical projection for world maps. The Natural Earth II projection has a unique shape compared to most other pseudocylindrical projections. At high latitudes, meridians bend steeply toward short pole lines resulting in a map with highly rounded corners that resembles an elongated globe. Its distortion properties are similar to most other established world map projections. Equations consist of simple polynomials. A user study evaluated whether map-readers prefer Natural Earth II to similar compromise projections. The 355 participating general map-readers rated the Natural Earth II projection lower than the Robinson and Natural Earth projections, but higher than the Wagner VI, Kavrayskiy VII and Wagner II projections.