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GEOGRAPHER

Gerardus Mercator

1512 - 1594

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Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish geographer, cosmographer and cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant bearing (rhumb lines) as straight lines—an innovation that is still employed in nautical charts. Mercator was a notable maker of globes and scientific instruments. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Gerardus Mercator has received more than 918,501 page views. His biography is available in 66 different languages on Wikipedia (down from 67 in 2019). Gerardus Mercator is the 4th most popular geographer, the 10th most popular biography from Belgium (up from 14th in 2019) and the most popular Belgian Geographer.

Gerardus Mercator is most famous for the Mercator Projection, which is a map projection that shows the earth as a sphere.

Memorability Metrics

  • 920k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 76.63

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 66

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 13.14

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.74

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Gerardus Mercators by language


Among GEOGRAPHERS

Among geographers, Gerardus Mercator ranks 4 out of 67. Before him are Eratosthenes, Strabo, and Alexander von Humboldt. After him are Muhammad al-Idrisi, Piri Reis, Pausanias, Carl Ritter, George Everest, Abraham Ortelius, Martin Waldseemüller, and Ferdinand von Richthofen.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1512, Gerardus Mercator ranks 1. After him are Catherine Parr, James V of Scotland, Henry, King of Portugal, Judah Loew ben Bezalel, Manco Inca Yupanqui, Niccolò dell'Abbate, Devlet I Giray, Robert Recorde, Diego Laynez, Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, and Sibylle of Cleves. Among people deceased in 1594, Gerardus Mercator ranks 3. Before him are Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tintoretto. After him are Orlande de Lassus, Archduchess Eleanor of Austria, Ishikawa Goemon, Martin Frobisher, Bálint Balassi, Alonso de Ercilla, Thomas Kyd, and Girolamo Mei.

Others Born in 1512

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Others Deceased in 1594

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Gerardus Mercator ranks 10 out of 1,019. Before him are Charles Martel (688), Audrey Hepburn (1929), Jan van Eyck (1395), Andreas Vesalius (1514), René Magritte (1898), and Maurice Maeterlinck (1862). After him are Leopold II of Belgium (1835), Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908), Philip I of Castile (1478), Anthony van Dyck (1599), Orlande de Lassus (1534), and Albert II of Belgium (1934).

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Among GEOGRAPHERS In Belgium

Among geographers born in Belgium, Gerardus Mercator ranks 1. After him are Abraham Ortelius (1527) and Jodocus Hondius (1563).

Belgian born Geographers

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