Portal:Maps

The Maps and Cartography Portal

In cartography, a map is a two-dimensional representation of the Earth's surface depicting the spatial layout of geographical features. Maps may also incorporate thematic information, such as demographic, economic, environmental, or other socio-economic data. A cartographer must make many decisions when designing a map, including the map scale, coordinate system, symbols, colors, labels, and typography. The selection of a map projection is a critical choice in map design, as every projection introduces characteristic distortions. The Mercator projection was widely used for centuries but has been criticized for depicting European nations enlarged compared to developing countries nearer to the equator.

Maps serve a wide range of purposes. One of the most common uses of maps is route planning, enabling users to find restaurants and other points of interest. Commercial and recreational traffic in the air and water use maps (called "charts" in this context): airplane traffic relies on aeronautical charts, and water traffic uses nautical charts. Scientists use maps to organize spatial data in fields such as geology, meteorology, seismology, and demographics.

Maps are used by governments 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. In 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 played a major role in the Age of Discovery and were carried by mariners as they explored new lands. The applications of cartography expanded in the late 17th century with the invention of thematic maps, which portrayed a specific kind of data – such as rainfall or population density – in contrast to simply portraying major 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 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the modern era enabled vast amounts of geographic data to be dynamically displayed on computer screens. Unlike paper maps, GIS permits users to interactively zoom, pan, and choose which data to view. Geographic data used for mapmaking may include imagery, scanned paper maps, surveying data, geographical features, and terrain (elevation) data. (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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A T and O map or O–T or T–O map (orbis terrarum, orb or circle of the lands; with the letter T inside an O), also known as an Isidoran map, is a type of early world map that represents the Afro-Eurasian landmass as a circle (= O) divided into three parts by a T-shaped combination of the Mediterranean sea, the river Tanais (Don) and the Nile. The origins of this diagram are contested, with some scholars hypothesizing an origin in Roman or late antiquity, while others consider it to have originated in 7th- or early 8th-century Spain.

The earliest surviving example of a T-O map is found in a late 7th- or early 8th-century copy of Isidore of Seville's (c. 560–636) De natura rerum, which alongside his Etymologiae (c. 625) are two of the most common texts to be accompanied by such a diagram in the Middle Ages. A later manuscript added the names of Noah's sons (Sem, Iafeth and Cham) for each of the three continents (see Biblical terminology for race). A later variation with more detail is the Beatus map drawn by Beatus of Liébana, an 8th-century Spanish monk, in the prologue to his Commentary on the Apocalypse. (Full article...)

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

Image 1The Winkel tripel projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 2Map 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 3Illustrated map (from Cartographic design)
Image 4Reconstruction of Pomponius Mela's world map. (from History of cartography)
Image 5Martin Behaim's Erdapfel (1492) is considered to be the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. (from History of cartography)
Image 6The pundit (explorer) cartographer Nain Singh Rawat (19th century) received a Royal Geographical Society gold medal in 1876. (from History of cartography)
Image 7Modern version of the Roman Tabula Peutingeriana (5th century). (from History of cartography)
Image 8World map Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius (1570) (from History of cartography)
Image 9Charles 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)
Image 10The Propaganda Map, a 1529 version of the Padrón Real now held by the Vatican Library. (from History of cartography)
Image 11The 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 12Lambert's normal cylindrical equal-area projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 13The world according to Herodotus, 440 BC (from History of cartography)
Image 14Nautical 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 15World Map by Juan de la Cosa (1500), the first map showing the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 16Blaeu'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 17A 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 18A map of Sikkim, India using shaded relief and hypsometric tints (a form of isarithm) to visualize terrain (from Cartographic design)
Image 19Surviving fragment of the first World Map of Piri Reis (1513) showing parts of the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 20Clay tablet with map of the Babylonian city of Nippur (c. 1400 BC) (from History of cartography)
Image 21A survey of Boston Harbor from Atlantic Neptune. (from History of cartography)
Image 22The Mercator projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation. (The distortion increases without limit at higher latitudes) (from Scale (map))
Image 23A chorochromatic map of world land cover, using hue, value, and saturation to differentiate nominal values (from Cartographic design)
Image 24Possibly 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 25The 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 26"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 27Map 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 28Infinitesimal elements on the sphere and a normal cylindrical projection (from Scale (map))
Image 29Scale variation for the Lambert (green) and Gall (red) equal area projections. (from Scale (map))
Image 30An 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 31A 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 32Scale variation near the equator for the tangent (red) and secant (green) Mercator projections. (from Scale (map))
Image 33Map 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 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 353D cartography of Washington State, Mount Rainier National Park, Pinnacle Peak trail. (from Cartographic design)
Image 36CIA map of Iraq, following typical labeling guidelines to maximize legibility and association (from Cartographic design)
Image 37The cartographic process (from Cartographic design)
Image 38Universalis 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 39A chart of an unidentified area (from History of cartography)
Image 40The Gough Map, a road map of 14th-century Britain (from History of cartography)
Image 41A portrait of a Dutch mapmaker looking up intently from his charts and holding a caliper, 1714. (from History of cartography)
Image 42Infinitesimal elements on the sphere and a normal cylindrical projection (from Scale (map))
Image 43The world according to Hekatæus, 500 BC (from History of cartography)
Image 44The Equal Earth projection (2018), an increasingly popular equal-area pseudocylindrical projection for world maps (from Cartographic design)
Image 45A 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 46A 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 meters) (from Scale (map))
Image 47The 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 48The 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 49The equidistant projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 50The Da Ming Hun Yi Tu map, dating c. 1390, exists in multicolour format. (from History of cartography)

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“

Your map of Africa is really quite nice. But my map of Africa lies in Europe. Here is Russia, and here... is France, and we're in the middle — that's my map of Africa.

”

— Otto von Bismarck, 1888

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World map, by Cosmas Indicopleustes. The map is oriented with north to the top.

Cosmas Indicopleustes (Koine Greek: Κοσμᾶς Ἰνδικοπλεύστης, lit. 'Cosmas who sailed to India'; also known as Cosmas the Monk) was a merchant and later hermit from Alexandria in Egypt. However, despite his moniker, "Cosmas the Monk", Cosmas himself says nothing that would indicate his involvement with monastic life. He was a 6th-century traveller who made several voyages to the Kingdom of Aksum, and India during the reign of emperor Justinian. His work Christian Topography contained some of the earliest and most famous world maps. Cosmas was a pupil of the East Syriac Patriarch Aba I and was himself a follower of the Church of the East. In fact, Cosmas is the one who provided the earliest most definitive evidence that the Nestorians were in India in the mid sixth century. At this time, Cosmas became a student of the future East Syrian patriarch. Cosmas's careful account regarding the spread of the Nestorian churches shows important information, specifically regarding the Church of the East's southern branch. He shows that Syriac and Persian were coequal in regards to the language of Christian introduction and commerce. (Full article...)

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Credit: Martin Waldseemüller, Library of Congress

Universalis Cosmographia, the Waldseemüller wall map dated 1507, depicts the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Ocean separating Asia from the Americas. There is only one surviving copy of the map, which was purchased by the Library of Congress in 2001 for $10 million.

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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 the Canadian League for Peace and Democracy organized a 10,000-person rally at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to protest a 2,500-person fascist rally?