mswkt = '''PROJCS["NAD83 / California Albers",GEOGCS["NAD83",DATUM["North_American_Datum_1983",SPHEROID["GRS 1980",6378137,298.257222101],TOWGS84[-0.9738,1.9453,0.5486,-1.3357E-07,-4.872E-08,-5.507E-08,0]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0,AUTHORITY["EPSG","8901"]],UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433,AUTHORITY["EPSG","9122"]],AUTHORITY["EPSG","4269"]],PROJECTION["Albers_Conic_Equal_Area"],PARAMETER["latitude_of_center",0],PARAMETER["longitude_of_center",-120],PARAMETER["standard_parallel_1",34],PARAMETER["standard_parallel_2",40.5],PARAMETER["false_easting",0],PARAMETER["false_northing",-4000000],UNIT["metre",1,AUTHORITY["EPSG","9001"]],AXIS["Easting",EAST],AXIS["Northing",NORTH],AUTHORITY["EPSG","3310"]]''' m = mapObj('') m.setWKTProjection(mswkt) lyr = layerObj(m) lyr.setWKTProjection(mswkt)