MAP

What is a map?
A map is a drawing that give us information about a place at a particular time. Maps are a
representation of the real world drawn accurately on a flat surface but many times smaller than the
place itself. Maps are one of the oldest forms of nonverbal communication. Every culture in every
part of the world makes and uses maps.

All the information about one place cannot be put in a single map. Different aspects of a place can
be shown in different types of maps. The art and science of making maps is called cartography. A
person who makes maps is called a cartographer.

History of cartography
Centuries before the Christian Era, Babylonians drew maps on clay tablets, of which the oldest specimens
found so far have been dated about 2300 BCE. This is the earliest positive evidence of graphic
representations of parts of the Earth; it may be assumed that mapmaking goes back much further and that it
began among nonliterate peoples. It is logical to assume that men very early made efforts to communicate
with each other regarding their environment by scratching routes, locations, and hazards on the ground and
later on bark and skins.

Maps and geography in the ancient world

The earliest specimens thus far discovered that are indisputably portrayals of land features are
the Babylonian tablets previously mentioned; certain land drawings found in Egypt and paintings discovered
in early tombs are nearly as old. It is quite probable that these two civilizations developed their mapping
skills more or less concurrently and in similar directions. Both were vitally concerned with the fertile areas
of their river valleys and therefore doubtless made surveys and plats soon after settled communities were
established. Later they made plats for the construction of canals, roads, and temples—the equivalent of
today’s engineering plans.

Greek maps and geography

The Greeks were outstanding among peoples of the ancient world for their pursuit and development of
geographic knowledge. The shortage of arable land in their own region led to maritime exploration and the
development of commerce and colonies. By 600 BCE Miletus, on the Aegean, had become a centre of
geographic knowledge, as well as of cosmographic speculation.

The Roman period

Although Ptolemy lived and worked at the time of Rome’s greatest influence, he was a Greek and essentially
a product of that civilization, as was the great library at Alexandria. His works greatly influenced the
development of geography, which he defined in mapmaking terms: “representation in picture of the whole
known world, together with the phenomena contained therein.” This had considerable influence in directing
scholars toward the specifics of map construction and away from the more abstract and philosophical
aspects of geography.

The Middle Ages

Progress in cartography during the early Middle Ages was slight. The medieval mapmaker seems to have
been dominated by the church, reflecting in his work the ecclesiastical dogmas and interpretations of
Scripture. In fact, during the 6th century Constantine of Antioch created a “Christian topography” depicting
the Earth as a flat disk. Thus the Roman map of the world, along with other concepts, continued
as authoritative for many centuries. A contemporary Chinese map shows that country occupying most of the
world, while the Roman Empire dominates most other maps produced during early Christian times.

What are the different types of maps?

Map skills are an important part of geography. You can learn more about them here and how you can
improve your map skills with this Homework Help guide.

There are many different types of maps, from simple sketch maps to give directions, to complex nautical
maps for ships to navigate the seas. In school, we learn about several types of maps, including political
maps, physical maps, topographical maps, topological maps, nautical maps, thematic maps and road maps.

A political map can show countries, country boundaries, cities, seas and oceans. They usually don't show
physical features.

Physical maps show the physical features of an area such as major rivers and lakes, relief (shape) of the
land, deserts and landforms, such as volcanoes.

A thematic map is a map that is designed to show information about a single topic e.g. climate zones or
populations. It does not usually show political or physical features.

Topographical maps show the shape of the land. Contour lines show the height of land. Where the lines are
close together, the relief of the land is very steep.

Nautical maps are sometimes called navigation maps and are used by ships to safely navigate through
natural and man-made obstacles above and below the seas.

Road maps come in many different forms and show the layout of roads and motorways so that people can
plan driving routes. Paper-based Road maps are less popular now that many people use satellite navigation
devices.

Uses of map:

 Helps to find the distance between the places.

 Represents information in a very simple way.
 Helps in finding precise location of places with latitude and longitude.
 Boundary demarcations both national and international are represented on maps.
 Used to locate physical feature and distribution of resources.
 Maps of can be used for development of an area.

Direction
A compass rose showing the four cardinal directions, the four intercardinal directions, and eight more
divisions.
The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, south, east, and west,
commonly denoted by their initials N, S, E, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at
90 degree intervals in the clockwise direction.
The ordinal directions (also called the intercardinal directions) are northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and
northwest (NW). The intermediate direction of every set of intercardinal and cardinal direction is called a secondary
intercardinal direction. These eight shortest points in the compass rose shown to the right are:

1. West-northwest (WNW)
2. North-northwest (NNW)
3. North-northeast (NNE)
4. East-northeast (ENE)
5. East-southeast (ESE)
6. South-southeast (SSE)
7. South-southwest (SSW)
8. West-southwest (WSW)
Measurement
Scale and accuracy

Many maps are drawn to a scale expressed as a ratio, such as 1:10,000, which means that 1 unit of measurement on the map
corresponds to 10,000 of that same unit on the ground. The scale statement can be accurate when the region mapped is small
enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, such as a city map. Mapping larger regions, where the curvature
cannot be ignored, requires projections to map from the curved surface of the Earth to the plane. The impossibility of
flattening the sphere to the plane without distortion means that the map cannot have a constant scale. Rather, on most
projections, the best that can be attained is an accurate scale along one or two paths on the projection. Because scale differs
everywhere, it can only be measured meaningfully as point scale per location. Most maps strive to keep point scale variation
within narrow bounds. Although the scale statement is nominal it is usually accurate enough for most purposes unless the
map covers a large fraction of the earth. At the scope of a world map, scale as a single number is practically meaningless
throughout most of the map. Instead, it usually refers to the scale along the equator.Some maps, called cartograms, have the
scale deliberately distorted to reflect information other than land area or distance. For example, this map (at the right)
of Europe has been distorted to show population distribution, while the rough shape of the continent is still discernible.

Another example of distorted scale is the famous London Underground map. The basic geographical structure is respected
but the tube lines (and the River Thames) are smoothed to clarify the relationships between stations. Near the centre of the
map, stations are spaced out more than near the edges of the map.
Further inaccuracies may be deliberate. For example, cartographers may simply omit military installations or remove
features solely to enhance the clarity of the map. For example, a road map may not show railroads, smaller waterways, or
other prominent non-road objects, and even if it does, it may show them less clearly (e.g. dashed or dotted lines/outlines)
than the main roads. Known as decluttering, the practice makes the subject matter that the user is interested in easier to read,
usually without sacrificing overall accuracy. Software-based maps often allow the user to toggle decluttering between ON,
OFF, and AUTO as needed. In AUTO the degree of decluttering is adjusted as the user changes the scale being displayed.