Why do topographic maps appear rectangular?
On my map the 10 min of latitude and 10 min of longitude are equal. I assume you mean the map and not the grids. I expect maybe people are used to rectangular maps. When I print off a topo map, it is always rectangular because the paper is. May there is a law that all paper must be rectangular. There is a cartographic projection called a cylindrical projection in which the image of the earth is projected onto a cylinder that can then be unrolled onto a plane. With this projection the latitudes toward extreme north and south appear much longer than they are. This is the result of trying to project a spherical surface onto a flat surface. Basically it going to distort.
