Cartographers play a significant role in the world of geography by creating maps that help us understand the Earth's surface. When making maps, they often use projections to represent the curved surface of the Earth on a flat piece of paper. However, projections can cause distortion, making some areas look larger or smaller than they actually are. For example, a map that shows lines of latitude and longitude might exaggerate the size of countries near the poles. Latitude lines run parallel to the Equator, while longitude lines stretch from the North to the South Pole, crossing the prime meridian.