Maps

What is a map?

A map is a symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually drawn on a flat surface. Maps present information about the world in a simple, visual way. They teach about the world by showing the sizes and shapes of countries, locations of features, and distances between places. Maps can show distributions of things over Earth, such as settlement patterns. They can show the exact locations of houses and streets in a city neighborhood.

Mapmakers

Cartography is defined as the science and art of making maps or graphical representations showing spatial concepts at various scales. Maps convey geographic information about a place and can be useful in understanding topography, weather, and culture, depending upon the type of map.

Early forms of cartography were practiced on clay tablets and cave walls. Today, maps can show a plethora of information. Technology such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allows maps to be made relatively easily with computers.

            Evolution of Mapmaking

Prehistoric Maps - Some of the earliest known maps date back to 16,500 BCE and show the night sky rather than the Earth. Ancient cave paintings and rock carvings also depict landscape features like hills and mountains. Archaeologists believe that these paintings were used both to navigate the areas they showed and to portray the areas that people visited.

 

Ancient Maps - Maps were created in ancient Babylonia (mostly on clay tablets), and it is believed that they were drawn with very accurate surveying techniques. These maps showed topographical features like hills and valleys but also had labeled features. The Babylonian World Map, created in 600 BCE, is considered to be the earliest map of the world. It is unique because it is a symbolic representation of the Earth.

 

Greek Maps - Ancient Greeks created the earliest paper maps that were used for navigation, and to depict certain areas of the Earth. Anaximander was the first of the ancient Greeks to draw a map of the known world, and, as such, he is considered to be one of the first cartographers. Hecataeus, Herodotus, Eratosthenes, and Ptolemy were other well-known Greek map makers. The maps they drew were based on explorer observations and mathematical calculations. The ancient Greek maps are important to the history of cartography because they often showed Greece as being at the center of the world and surrounded by an ocean. Other early Greek maps show the world as divided into two continents—Asia and Europe. These ideas came largely out of Homer’s works as well as other early Greek literature.

 

Chinese Map - Cartography continued to develop in China throughout its various dynasties, and in 605 CE an early map using a grid system was created by Pei Ju of the Sui Dynasty. In 801 CE, the "Hai Nei Hua Yi Tu" (Map of Both Chinese and Barbarian Peoples Within the [Four] Seas) was created by the Tang Dynasty to show China as well as its Central Asian colonies. The map was 30 feet (9.1 meters) by 33 feet (10 meters) and used a grid system with a highly accurate scale.

 

Medieval Map - European early medieval maps were mainly symbolic, similar to those that came out of Greece. Beginning in the 13th century, the Majorcan Cartographic School was developed. This "school" was a collaboration of mostly Jewish cartographers, cosmographers, navigators, and navigational instrument-makers. The Majorcan Cartographic School invented the Normal Portolan Chart—a nautical mile chart that used gridded compass lines for navigation.

Age of Exploration - Cartography developed further in Europe during the Age of Exploration as cartographers, merchants, and explorers created maps showing the new areas of the world that they visited. The cartographers also developed detailed nautical charts and maps that were used for navigation. In the 15th century, Nicholas Germanus invented the Donis map projection with equidistant parallels and meridians that converged toward the poles.

 

Modern Cartography - Modern cartography began with the advent of a variety of technological advancements. The invention of tools like the compass, telescope, sextant, quadrant, and printing press all allowed for maps to be made more easily and accurately. New technologies also led to the development of different map projections that more precisely showed the world. For example, in 1772, the Lambert conformal conic was created, and in 1805, the Albers equal area-conic projection was developed. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the United States Geological Survey and the National Geodetic Survey used new tools to map trails and survey government lands.

 

21^st Century Maps - In the 21st century, map-making has undergone a revolutionary transformation, propelled by advanced technologies and digital innovations. Traditional cartography, involving intricate hand-drawn maps, has given way to sophisticated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and digital mapping tools. Cartographers now harness satellite imagery, GPS data, and advanced software to create highly accurate and interactive maps. These digital maps not only provide detailed representations of geographical features but also offer real-time updates and dynamic layers, allowing users to customize their viewing experience. The democratization of mapping tools has empowered individuals to contribute to map-making through platforms like OpenStreetMap, fostering collaborative and crowd-sourced cartography. This digital era has not only enhanced the precision of maps but has also made them more accessible, dynamic, and participatory in capturing the ever-evolving complexities of our world.

Types of Maps

Topographic Map - visually represents the Earth's surface, highlighting terrain features through contour lines. It provides essential details about elevation, landforms, and geographical characteristics, making it a vital tool for various activities.

 

Weather Map - visually displays current meteorological conditions, including temperature, pressure, wind, precipitation, and cloud cover using symbols and colors. It helps convey complex weather information in a simplified and accessible format.

 

Thematic Map - focuses on presenting specific information about a theme or topic, like population distribution or land use, using symbols and colors to illustrate patterns.

 

Street and Road Maps - help navigate urban and rural areas, providing details on streets, highways, and landmarks for efficient travel. They are essential tools for both drivers and pedestrians, offering clear guidance for navigation.

 

Climate Maps - visually represent global climatic patterns, aiding understanding of temperature, precipitation, and other climate features.

 

Economic or Resource Maps - depict the distribution of resources, industries, and economic activities in specific regions. They provide insights into the economic landscape, helping planners, businesses, and policymakers make informed decisions.

 

Cadastral Maps - depict land boundaries, ownership, and divisions. They are crucial for land administration, property management, and record-keeping, aiding in property transactions and land-related planning.

 

Political Maps - display political boundaries, such as country borders, cities, and administrative divisions. They provide a visual representation of political features and help understand the organization of territories and government jurisdictions.

 

Physical Maps - showcase the natural features of a region, including landforms, bodies of water, vegetation, and elevation. These maps use colors and shading to represent different physical characteristics, providing a visual overview of the geographical landscape.

 

Elements of Map

1.    Title - The map title is very important because it is usually the first thing a reader will look at on a map. It can be compared with a title in a newspaper. It should be short but give the reader a first idea of what the map is about.

2.    Orientation - Orientation is a crucial element of a map that enables you to understand its alignment with the real world. It essentially tells you which way is up on the map, allowing you to accurately interpret directions and locations.

-      North Arrow - A north arrow is a figure displaying the main directions, North, South, East, and West. On a map, it is used to indicate the direction of the north.

-      Border - The map border is a line that defines exactly the edges of the area shown on the map. When printing a map with a graticule, you often find the coordinate information of the graticule lines along the border lines.

-      Labels - Labels are the words that identify a location. They show places (streets, rivers, and establishments) with specific names and can also be used to represent something if there is only one of them, instead of making up a symbol to just represent one thing.

-      Legend - A map is a simplified representation of the real world and map symbols are used to represent real objects. Without symbols, we would not understand maps. To ensure that a person can correctly read a map, a map legend is used to provide a key to all the symbols used in the map.

3.    Scale - The scale of a map is the value of a single unit of distance on the map, representing distance in the real world. The values are shown in map units (meters, feet, or degrees). The scale can be expressed in several ways, for example, in words, as a ratio, or as a graphical scale bar.

4.    Graticule - A graticule is a network of lines overlain on a map to make spatial orientation easier for the reader. The lines can be used as a reference. As an example, the lines of a graticule can represent the parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude.

5.    Data Frame - The data frame is the portion of the map that displays the data layers. This section is the most important and central focus of the map document.

-      Source - All the sources you used for map data need to be credited here.

 

Reading the Map

Quadrants play a crucial role in reading and studying maps, particularly those with rectangular or square grids. They provide a simple and organized way to identify and locate specific map features.

Image taken from: https://sncyear8geography.weebly.com/

Map Projections

The earth can be presented with reasonable accuracy only on a globe, but globes are not as convenient as flat maps to store or use, and they cannot depict much detail. In transforming a globe into a map, we cannot flatten the curved surface and keep intact all the properties of the original.

Globe Properties:

1.    All meridians are equal in length; each is one-half of the length of the equator.

2.    All meridians converge at the poles and are true north-south lines.

3.    All lines of latitude (parallels) are parallel to the equator and to each other.

4.    Parallels decrease in length as one nears the poles.

5.    Meridians and parallels intersect at right angles.

6.    The scale on the surface of the globe is everywhere the same in all directions.

Only the globe grid itself retains all of these characteristics. To project it onto a surface that can be laid flat is to distort some or all of these properties and consequently distort the reality the map attempts to portray.

The term map projection designates the way the curved surface of the globe is represented on a flat map. All flat maps distort, in different ways and to different degrees, some or all of the four main properties of actual earth surface relationships: area, shape, distance, and direction.