Portal:Maps

The Maps and Cartography Portal

In cartography, a map is a representation or abstraction of geographic reality. Maps are used for a wide range of purposes, including navigation, scientific research, governance, and warfare. A common use is route planning, which enables users to find their way to their destination. Specialized maps called charts are used for nautical navigation (nautical charts) and aviation (aeronautical charts). Scientists use maps to organize spatial data in fields such as geology, meteorology, seismology and demographics. Governments use maps for administrative functions such as census, electoral districts, property taxation, dispatching police, and coordinating disaster relief. Military and security organizations use maps for mission planning, surveillance, border management, logistics, and intelligence analysis.

One of the earliest preserved maps is from the Akkadian Empire (in modern Iraq) inscribed on a clay tablet and dated to 2300 BCE. By the 5th century BCE, Greeks were drawing maps of their known world, encompassing the Mediterranean Sea and most of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Maps were important tools in the Age of Discovery, when mariners used them to explore new lands. Applications of cartography expanded in the late 17th century with the development of thematic maps, which portrayed specific kinds of data – such as rainfall or population density – rather than focusing on geographic features such as rivers, mountains, and cities. The rapid expansion of road networks and mass transit systems in the 20th century created a market for mass-produced maps aimed at the traveling public.

The development of computer cartography and geographic information systems in the mid-20th century enabled the storage of vast amounts of geographic data, which could be dynamically displayed and analyzed. Unlike paper maps, interactive maps let users zoom, pan, and choose which data to view. Geographic data used for mapmaking includes imagery, scanned paper maps, surveying measurements, geographic features, and terrain data.

Designing a map is a complex process involving the selection and arrangement of graphical elements to create a map that is informative, useful, and uncluttered. Because the amount of available geographic data often exceeds what can be effectively displayed, map designers must apply a generalization process to decide which elements to display and which to omit. The amount of detail is influenced by the map scale, expressed as a ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground. The choice of a map projection is fundamental, as every projection introduces characteristic distortions. Geographic coordinates may be displayed as latitude and longitude, or in a Cartesian (XY grid) system. In addition to geographic data, maps may include supplemental elements such as legends (guides to the map's symbols), scale bars, north arrows, or inset maps. (Full article...)

Cartography (/kɑːrˈtɒɡrəfi/) is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively. (Full article...)

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OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a map database maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial photo imagery or satellite imagery, and import from other freely licensed geodata sources.

OpenStreetMap is freely licensed under the Open Database License and is commonly used to make electronic maps, inform turn-by-turn navigation, and assist in humanitarian aid and data visualisation. OpenStreetMap uses its own data model to store geographical features which can then be exported into other GIS file formats. The OpenStreetMap website itself is an online map, geodata search engine, and editor. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various map-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The pundit (explorer) cartographer Nain Singh Rawat (19th century) received a Royal Geographical Society gold medal in 1876. (from History of cartography)
Image 2The Fra Mauro map, a medieval European map, was made around 1450 by the Italian monk Fra Mauro. It is a circular world map drawn on parchment and set in a wooden frame, about two meters in diameter. (from History of cartography)
Image 3World Map by Juan de la Cosa (1500), the first map showing the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 4The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by Muhammad al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154. Note that the north is at the bottom, and so the map appears "upside down" compared to modern cartographic conventions. (from History of cartography)
Image 5Scale variation for the Lambert (green) and Gall (red) equal area projections. (from Scale (map))
Image 6Infinitesimal elements on the sphere and a normal cylindrical projection (from Scale (map))
Image 7A US civil war hachure paper map made in 1867 by cartographer Nathaniel Michler vs. modern aerial photos over Chancellorsville, Virginia (from History of cartography)
Image 8A general map of the world by Samuel Dunn, 1794, containing star chart, map of the Solar System, map of the Moon and other features along with Earth's both hemispheres. (from History of cartography)
Image 9A well-composed transit map of Istanbul, with a high degree of contrast between the symbols, creating a strong visual hierarchy (transit lines are and look most important), figure-ground, and selectivity (the green national rail line can be isolated when necessary). Also note the harmonizing subdued tones of green and blue in the background. (from Cartographic design)
Image 10The Gough Map, a road map of 14th-century Britain (from History of cartography)
Image 11CIA map of Iraq, following typical labeling guidelines to maximize legibility and association (from Cartographic design)
Image 12The Da Ming Hun Yi Tu map, dating c. 1390, exists in multicolour format. (from History of cartography)
Image 13A chorochromatic map of world land cover, using hue, value, and saturation to differentiate nominal values (from Cartographic design)
Image 14Infinitesimal elements on the sphere and a normal cylindrical projection (from Scale (map))
Image 15Reconstruction of Pomponius Mela's world map. (from History of cartography)
Image 16The Equal Earth projection (2018), an increasingly popular equal-area pseudocylindrical projection for world maps (from Cartographic design)
Image 17The Mercator projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation. (The distortion increases without limit at higher latitudes) (from Scale (map))
Image 18Al-Masudi's world map (10th century) (from History of cartography)
Image 19Map of the Holy Land, Pietro Vesconte, 1321. Described by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld as "the first non-Ptolemaic map of a definite country". (from History of cartography)
Image 20Clay tablet with map of the Babylonian city of Nippur (c. 1400 BC) (from History of cartography)
Image 21A portrait of a Dutch mapmaker looking up intently from his charts and holding a caliper, 1714. (from History of cartography)
Image 22Surviving fragment of the first World Map of Piri Reis (1513) showing parts of the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 23Blaeu's world map, originally prepared by Joan Blaeu for his Atlas Maior, published in the first book of the Atlas Van Loon (1664) (from History of cartography)
Image 24Martin Behaim's Erdapfel (1492) is considered to be the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. (from History of cartography)
Image 25Universalis Cosmographia, the Waldseemüller wall map dated 1507, depicts the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Ocean separating Asia from the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 26An early Western Han dynasty (202 BC – 9 AD) silk map found in tomb 3 of Mawangdui Han tombs site, depicting the Kingdom of Changsha and Kingdom of Nanyue in southern China (note: the south direction is oriented at the top, north at the bottom). (from History of cartography)
Image 27Possibly the oldest surviving map has been engraved on this mammoth tusk, dated to 25,000 BC, found from Pavlov in the Czech Republic. (from History of cartography)
Image 28The Winkel tripel projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 29The Yu Ji Tu, or Map of the Tracks of Yu Gong, carved into stone in 1137, located in the Stele Forest of Xi'an. This 3 ft (0.91 m) squared map features a graduated scale of 100 li for each rectangular grid. China's coastline and river systems are clearly defined and precisely pinpointed on the map. Yu Gong is in reference to the Chinese deity described in the geographical chapter of the Classic of History, dated 5th century BC. (from History of cartography)
Image 30A graphical or bar scale. A map would also usually give its scale numerically ("1:50,000", for instance, means that one cm on the map represents 50,000cm of real space, which is 500 metres) (from Scale (map))
Image 31A survey of Boston Harbor from Atlantic Neptune. (from History of cartography)
Image 32A chart of an unidentified area (from History of cartography)
Image 33The equidistant projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 34The first Japanese printed map to depict the world, including Europe and America. Printed by woodblock in 1710, composed by the Buddhist monk Rokashi Hotan. (from History of cartography)
Image 35Lambert's normal cylindrical equal-area projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 36Scale variation near the equator for the tangent (red) and secant (green) Mercator projections. (from Scale (map))
Image 37The Propaganda Map, a 1529 version of the Padrón Real now held by the Vatican Library. (from History of cartography)
Image 38The Salviati Planisphere, a 1526 version of the Padrón Real provided by Charles V to the cardinal who officiated his wedding to Isabella of Portugal. (from History of cartography)
Image 39Modern version of the Roman Tabula Peutingeriana (5th century). (from History of cartography)
Image 40Map of the “Inhabited Quarter” by Sadiq Isfahani from Jaunpur c.1647. This was one of the only surviving Indian made maps. (from History of cartography)
Image 41A bar scale with the nominal scale expressed as "1:600 000", meaning 1 cm on the map corresponds to 600,000 cm=6 km on the ground. (from Scale (map))
Image 42Map of Biscayne National Park, Florida, using a variety of point symbols, along with line and area symbols. Note the use of coordinated fill and stroke symbols for the national park area to solve the challenge of a water boundary. (from Cartographic design)
Image 43The cartographic process (from Cartographic design)
Image 44Nautical chart by Pedro Reinel (c. 1504), one of the first based on astronomical observations and to depict a scale of latitudes. (from History of cartography)
Image 45"Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico by John Distrunell, the 1847 map used during the negotiations of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican–American War. (from History of cartography)
Image 463D cartography of Washington State, Mount Rainier National Park, Pinnacle Peak trail. (from Cartographic design)
Image 47The world according to Herodotus, 440 BC (from History of cartography)
Image 48A map of Sikkim, India using shaded relief and hypsometric tints (a form of isarithm) to visualize terrain (from Cartographic design)
Image 49The world according to Hekatæus, 500 BC (from History of cartography)
Image 50Charles Joseph Minard's map of Napoleon's Russian campaign of 1812 (1844) has been long recognized as a masterwork of cartographic design at a time when such was difficult and rare. (from Cartographic design)

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Typical Englishman John Smith is more concerned about David Beckham's fitness than his own wife's. Typical Chinese man Som Young Guy is not trying to grow the population of his country for over one month. Typical German Jurgen wants to check from the map that where about in Europe the cheating Uruguay is located.

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— Aki Riihilahti

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One of Molyneux's celestial globes, which is displayed in Middle Temple Library – from the frontispiece of the Hakluyt Society's 1889 reprint of A Learned Treatise of Globes, both Cœlestiall and Terrestriall, one of the English editions of Robert Hues' Latin work Tractatus de Globis (1594)

Emery Molyneux (/ˈɛməri ˈmɒlɪnoʊ/ EM-ər-ee MOL-in-oh; died June 1598) was an English Elizabethan maker of globes, mathematical instruments and ordnance. His terrestrial and celestial globes, first published in 1592, were the first to be made in England and the first to be made by an Englishman.

Molyneux was known as a mathematician and maker of mathematical instruments such as compasses and hourglasses. He became acquainted with many prominent men of the day, including the writer Richard Hakluyt and the mathematicians Robert Hues and Edward Wright. He also knew the explorers Thomas Cavendish, Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and John Davis. Davis probably introduced Molyneux to his own patron, the London merchant William Sanderson, who largely financed the construction of the globes. When completed, the globes were presented to Elizabeth I. Larger globes were acquired by royalty, noblemen and academic institutions, while smaller ones were purchased as practical navigation aids for sailors and students. The globes were the first to be made in such a way that they were unaffected by the humidity at sea, and they came into general use on ships. (Full article...)

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Credit: A. Boot, University of Texas

A 1628 Spanish relief map of Acapulco and Acapulco Bay, Mexico. During Spanish colonial times, Acapulco was a major port for ships carrying silks and spices gathered from the Asia-Pacific area.

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Did you know

... that Kathryn Maple won the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition twice in three years?
... that Kaneza Schaal and Christopher Myers created Cartography after seeing a young boy playing music?
... that Bartholomäus Scultetus tried to become the court cartographer of Ivan the Terrible?
... that Maki Narukido researched the characters' travel times in her manga The End of the World With You using Google Maps?
... that some maps contain non-existent places inserted by the cartographers to detect copyright infringement?