mswkt = '''GEOGCS["Unspecified datum based upon the International 1924 Authalic Sphere (deprecated)",DATUM["Not_specified_based_on_International_1924_Authalic_Sphere",SPHEROID["International 1924 Authalic Sphere",6371228,0,AUTHORITY["EPSG","7057"]],AUTHORITY["EPSG","6053"]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0,AUTHORITY["EPSG","8901"]],UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433,AUTHORITY["EPSG","9122"]],AUTHORITY["EPSG","4053"]]''' m = mapObj('') m.setWKTProjection(mswkt) lyr = layerObj(m) lyr.setWKTProjection(mswkt)