Which projection is best known for preserving the shortest routes?

The gnomonic projection is best known for preserving the shortest routes on the Earth’s surface. This characteristic makes it particularly useful for navigation, especially in aviation and maritime contexts. On a gnomonic projection, straight lines represent the shortest distance between two points, which is a feature known as a great circle route. This type of projection allows navigators to plot the most efficient travel paths over long distances.

In contrast, while conformal projections are useful for preserving angles and shapes, they do not maintain accurate distance relationships across the entire map, meaning they do not represent shortest routes effectively. Azimuthal projections focus on preserving direction from a central point but do not necessarily show shortest paths between two non-central points. Equal-area projections prioritize area representation to accurately reflect sizes of regions but sacrifice the integrity of distances and shapes, thus not being suitable for identifying shortest routes.