Talk:Map/GA1

GA review

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Nominator: Noleander (talk · contribs) 17:41, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: Pamzeis (talk · contribs) 16:51, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi, I'm taking in part in this review as part of WT:GARC#108. I've never reviewed a geography topic before, nor an article this broad, so please alert me if I screw anything up! Pamzeis (talk) 16:51, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Lead

• Is there a reason governments, military and security organizations are in a separate paragraph to the other purposes?

A minor reason: sources treat government mapping separately from commercial mapping (the vast majority of maps are made by official govmt agencies). But mostly I split the paragraph to break up a large paragraph into 2 smaller ones. Noleander (talk) 20:32, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• There are three sentences in a row that begin with "X use maps", which feels a bit list-y and monotonous. Can they be reworded?

Done. Changed the middle sentence of the 3 to start with "Maps are used by governments for ..." Noleander (talk) 20:32, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• The lead mentions 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. but the body only mentions on Greek drawing one map during that time

Done. Added the following footnote to the body text: "An earlier Greek cartographer was Anaximander (c. 610 – c. 546 BCE) who may have been the first to create a map of the world, and also created a globe." There were others as well. I have not added anything to the lead because, well, it's the lead. But if you think I should, let me know. Noleander (talk) 20:32, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Definition and etymology

• or from French mappemonde or Latin mappa mundi (both 'map of the world'). — the double "or" makes it confusing for me, even if the comma sorta clarifies—can it be restructured?

Done. Changed to "It originated from the Late Latin word mappa ('napkin, cloth') originating in Classical Latin. Alternatively, it may have originated from French mappemonde or Latin mappa mundi (both 'map of the world')." Noleander (talk) 20:39, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• as in the 1938 definition by Erwin Raisz (in the first major book on cartography in the English language[b]) "a conventionalized picture and as in the brief 1976 definition by Arthur H. Robinson "a graphic representation of the milieu". — is there a word or punctuation missing in here?

Can you be more specific? Is the issue with the phrase "... as in the ..."? That reads okay to me, but I can change that to something else in both those sentences. If it is a different issue, please specify. Noleander (talk) 20:43, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

History

• No one knows when or where humans created the first maps — seems a bit journalistic to me—perhaps "It is unknown when or..." would be better?

Done. Noleander (talk) 20:48, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• so fundamental to human nature, it is likely that maps were produced very early in human history — contains a comma splice

Done. Changed to "The desire to preserve and share geographic data is so fundamental to human nature it is likely that maps were produced very early in human history." I removed the comma. I could not convert the comma to a period because the word "so" in the first half means the first half not a stand-alone sentence. Noleander (talk) 20:48, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• An early Chinese map that is still preserved from about the 4th century BCE, which shows more sophistication than contemporary maps originating in Europe. — is not a full sentence; also, could it be expanded slightly to tell the reader what the map depicts?

Done. Expanded to "Early Chinese maps that are still preserved include one from the 4th century BCE engraved on a large bronze sheet, showing the location of five mausoleums,[8] and a set of silk maps from the 2nd century BCE, which show more sophistication than contemporary maps originating in Europe." Noleander (talk) 22:41, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• as Christianity dominated much of medieval society – many of them incorporated religious themes — is it possible to include a short example here? As someone who's seen very few paper maps, I'm having a hard time understanding how a religious theme would be incorporated

Done. Added footnote stating "An aspect of the religious emphasis was that Jersualem was placed at the center of many of these maps." From looking at the maps, there was also a lot of religious symbology drawn in the margins, but I don't see that highlighted by the sources. Noleander (talk) 22:53, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• Scholars refer to some of these maps — does "some of these maps" refer to all of the types of maps mentioned in this paragraph or just maps of the world?

Done. Changed to "Scholars refer to some of the mappa mundi as T-O maps because they depicted the ..." Noleander (talk) 22:57, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• who created the Mercator projection in 1569 which proved valuable to navigators — can it be explained how so?

Done. Changed to "... proved valuable to navigators because they could draw a straight line on the map pointing to their destination, and follow the indicated compass direction." That simple method of finding a compass direction to follow was not possible in other projections. Noleander (talk) 23:01, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• innovative schematic design that was more useful than a geographically accurate layout — more useful to everyone? Or to a specific demographic/groups of people? Also, I feel as though the claim it's more useful would be a subjective opinion rather than a fact

Done. Changed to "... an innovative schematic design that was more useful for passengers than a geographically accurate layout." Regarding the statement "more useful" .. that is clearly stated (in roughly the same wording) as a fact by many sources, so it is probably best to leave it as is. Noleander (talk) 23:05, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

• A couple times in this section, there are a few statements that have a bit of a laudatory tone towards maps or don't feel completely neutral, e.g.:
  • the desire to preserve and share geographic data is so fundamental to human nature
  • Humanity's impulse to create maps was illustrated when Europeans encountered indigenous peoples in Central and South America and in Oceania
• I know that maps are a crucial part of human life, but can such statements potentially be reworded to sound more neutral?

Done. Changed 1st to "The fact that maps are found in the historical records of so many ancient cultures suggests that maps were initially produced early in human prehistory." Changed 2nd to "When Europeans encountered indigenous peoples in Central and South America and in Oceania, they found maps ...." Noleander (talk) 00:58, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Applications

• Perhaps the most common applications of maps in everyday life relate to navigation and route planning. Maps are useful for finding nearby restaurants, hospitals, gas stations, hotels, parks, and other points of interest. — "perhaps" is editorialising—perhaps (pun unintended) this statement could be attributed?

Done. Could not find a source for "most common", so changed it to "Common applications of maps in everyday life are navigation and route planning: maps are useful for finding nearby restaurants". Noleander (talk) 01:02, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

• including monitoring forests and wildlife habitats; monitoring climate change, floods, wildfires, and pollution. — the list after "including" lacks parallel structure—is there a reason it isn't a single parallel list?

Done. Changed to "Environmental protection and management is an area where maps are used to monitor forests, wildlife habitats, climate change, floods, wildfires, and pollution." Noleander (talk) 01:07, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

• This section can feel a bit list-y at points. Initially, things are grouped together in a logical way, but it eventually turns a bit into X uses maps for Y and the groupings feel a bit random—for example, I don't understand why the bit about government using maps for policy decisions is not a part of the previous paragraphs, which discusses government-related applications

Design

• Occasionally, I feel as though this section reads a bit like a WP:HOWTO guide, particularly the occurrences of "should" and the absolute phrasing at points. At times, the article seems as though it's implicitly informing someone designing a map, not neutrally describing how maps are designed; some examples:
  • A map's design should visually distinguish key elements in a map from less important elements
  • even a small amount of color can significantly improve the readability of map
  • Positioning textual labels in a manner that is helpful and attractive is a difficult, but important process
• This section also reads a bit choppy at times because of the short paragraphs
• For example, assuming one can resolve locations within half a millimeter on a paper map, that determines the map's resolution. — the structuring is a kinda clunky
• The projection has been criticized for its large distortions in the higher latitudes, as well as for inaccuracies in coordinates when zoomed-in — by whom?
• A lot of the examples in this section comes from European or North American countries—is this simply a reflection of how sources cover the design of maps?

Types

• A few subsections, like #Topological and #Topographic and planimetric, appear pretty choppy because of the short paragraphs. Can they be merged?
• At the end of #Topological, geographic accuracy is sacrificed to improve comprehension seems to simply repeat their graphical depictions promote comprehension by sacrificing geographic accuracy that is said before. Pamzeis (talk) 11:18, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Cartographic data

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Publication and distribution

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Profession and regulation

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Society and culture

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Sourcing

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Images

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Criteria: 1a. prose () 1b. MoS () 2a. ref layout () 2b. cites WP:RS () 2c. no WP:OR () 2d. no WP:CV () 3a. broadness () 3b. focus () 4. neutral () 5. stable () 6a. free or tagged images () 6b. pics relevant () Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked are unassessed