from mapscript import mapObj,layerObj wkt = '''GEOGCS["WGS 84",DATUM["unknown",SPHEROID["WGS84",6378137,298.257223563]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433]]''' m = mapObj('') m.setWKTProjection(wkt) lyr = layerObj(m) lyr.setWKTProjection(wkt)