How to Read a Map

What Is a Map?

A map is a representation of a geographic area, usually a portion of the earth’s

surface. It may be shown in many different ways, from a traditional map printed on
paper to a digital map built pixel by pixel on the screen of a computer. Maps can
show almost anything, from the electric supply grid of your community to the terrain
of the Himalayas to the depths of the ocean floor. A map can be practical, directing
travelers from one point to another through confusing terrain, or explaining the world
by attaching specific types of information to geography. But maps can also entertain
and invite exploration. For example, a colorful map of the Marquesas Islands with
exotic-sounding ports such as Hakapehi on Nuku Hiva might have a beckoning appeal
to some. Similarly, a detailed map of the many features of Athens or Bangkok might
entice others to travel to these sites. A map can even be created for the surface of
Mars, based on data transmitted to Earth from computer-controlled spacecraft,
showing places that most people will never visit.

Maps can be drawn in many different styles, each showing different faces of the
same subject and allowing us to visualize the world in a convenient, informative, or
stimulating way. To use maps effectively, just learn the few simple skills described
here. In addition, be aware of these important facts:

(1) No map is perfect. People make maps from data they collect with certain tools.
Even computer-generated maps depend on programs designed by people and on
data collected by human-designed machines. People make mistakes and machines
are never totally accurate all the time, nor can any device record every detail of a
landscape. Therefore, maps can contain errors and inaccuracies. Because of data
errors or cartographic errors, a certain village may not be exactly where the map
shows it or a mountain peak may not be exactly as high as it appears on the map.

Cartographers using traditional tools such as the recording of ground data by hand or
the use of high-altitude photography are limited by how many objects and how small
an object they can record. Very small features may not be accurately placed on the
map or they may not appear at all. Modern tools such as high-resolution satellite
photography can record details to a resolution of several meters. Most surface
objects of practical importance can be recorded with such imagery and translated
into highly accurate maps or photographs, but they are still subject to interpretation
and data error. Cartographers sometimes purposely limit the details they present in a
map in order to make the map useful and less confusing.

(2) Maps grow old. The world is constantly changing both physically and culturally, so
maps can become outdated, no longer showing the world accurately. Modern
technology has provided a partial solution—computers have made it possible to
renew maps easily without redrawing them. However, appropriate information
reflecting changes in the world must still be collected periodically and used to revise
the maps’ databases.

(3) Maps are biased. Because maps generally do not show every single feature of a
chosen geographic area—every tree, house, and road—the cartographer must decide
the projection and scale for the map and decide how much detail to present. The
purpose of the map as well as the cultural background of the cartographer often
dictates this process, called generalization. Information on the map and how it may
be distorted can influence what people think about the world and what they do.

Map Types

The first question to ask about a map is what its theme is. The theme is the
particular aspect of the world that the map attempts to show, such as roads,
borders, vegetation, or statistical data. Maps can be divided by theme into three
categories. The first, general maps, are those that contain many themes and give a
broad picture. General maps are often practical, showing the world in a way that
allows people to get from one point to another without getting lost, or allows them to
learn about the overall layout of an unfamiliar place without having to go there. An
example of a general map is a road map of a country showing major cities,
mountains, rivers, landmarks, etc. The second category is thematic maps, which
contain one or a few themes and show in-depth information. Thematic maps can
show almost any kind of information that varies from place to place, such as a
country’s population or income level by state, province, or county, with each division
colored differently to indicate the relative level of population or income. The third
category of map is charts, which are accurate maps of routes of travel used for ocean
and air navigation. They must be updated frequently so that captains and pilots
know of current dangers along their route.

Maps are made in many different forms. The first maps made by people were
probably lines drawn in sand or small pebbles and sticks arranged on the ground.
Modern maps are published for the long-term use of many people. Printed maps are
the simplest forms. They show the world as flat—that is, in two dimensions. On a
printed map, relief—mountains, valleys, and other terrain—is shown with special
symbols to make up for the lack of depth, which is the third dimension. Relief maps
are rigid flat maps with actual bumps and depressions added to indicate elevated
landforms and low areas. They are usually made of clay or molded plastic, and the
relief is usually exaggerated to give a greater impression of depth.

In between the effects created by flat maps and relief maps is the visual experience
created by stereograms, which are flat maps or aerial photographs positioned in
slightly differing pairs. Viewed through special 3-D lenses that fool the eyes,
stereograms give the effect of viewing actual relief. Globes are spherical models of
the Earth, the Moon, and other planets. They give a more realistic impression of
features on a curved surface.

Computer maps are the most versatile. A mapping program can dynamically show
many different views of the same subject, allow changes in scale, and incorporate
animation, pictures, sound, and Internet links to sources of supplementary
information. A person can update a computer-generated map with new information
by simply supplementing the map’s database, allowing the map to grow over time to
present more geographic detail and more themes. Having a powerful digital map is
like having dozens of printed thematic maps overlaid on a particular area, each
electronically connected to an immense library of information on the main theme and
on many related ones.

How people use a map depends on the type of map they have and what sort of
information they want from it. In the case of simple maps, only one or two types of
information may be available and few or no map skills are required to use it. For
example, a sketch of a neighborhood may only show what relationship a particular
house has to the street corner or whether it is farther from there to the market or to
the school. Even those who cannot read the local language can use such maps. But
complex maps can indicate actual distance, the exact location of many important
land features, elevation, vegetation, political divisions, and many other aspects of
the world. To interpret such a complex map, some basic map skills are required.

Map Elements

Most maps, including the majority of maps of the earth, share a number of basic
features. They assume a certain projection and scale, they usually express location in
terms of coordinates, and they have a legend.

Projection

The surface of the earth is curved and maps are flat, whether they’re printed maps
or computer screen pictures. This means that all maps except for globes and pictures
of globes are distortions of how the earth really looks. For small areas, the distortion
is insignificant because small areas on the globe look like a flat surface. But for large
areas or for purposes demanding high accuracy, such distortion can be very
important. Why do map distortions occur? A simple explanation of this can be found
in the case of the orange peel. When the curved outer surface of an orange is
removed and laid flat, the peel spreads out in separate pieces. Cartographers face
the same problem when mapping the surface of the earth. They have to remove the
pieces of geography in a certain way and stretch or stitch the pieces together again
in order to make a continuous flat map.

The way the geography of the earth is taken from the globe and reassembled on a
flat surface is called the map’s projection. Another way of thinking of projection is
this: Every point on the globe can be projected by a straight line onto a transparent
form wrapped around the globe. The shape of the form and how the points are
spread onto it determine the type of projection. Some common forms are cylinders,
cones, ellipses, and flat planes, giving rise to cylindrical, conic, elliptical, and
orthographic projections. There are many types of projection, each distorting the
spherical surface of the earth in a different way and each with its practical
advantages and disadvantages.

Scale

The size of a map in relation to the earth is its scale, which is usually stated as a
fraction or ratio. The numerator, at the top of the fraction, is one unit on the map
and the denominator, at the bottom of the fraction, is the number of the same units
that are represented in the real world. For example, a scale of 1/10,000 means that
one centimeter on the map is equivalent to 10,000 centimeters on the ground. As a
ratio, this scale would be shown as 1:10,000. The larger the denominator and the
smaller the fraction, the more of the earth is represented on a single map. Therefore,
small-scale maps show a large piece of the earth, and large-scale maps show a
relatively small piece. Another way to think of map scale is that items in small-scale
maps appear small, whereas the same items in large-scale maps appear large.

Computer maps may have a varying scale that changes according to the “zoom” level
of the view. The more zoomed in, or closer you are to the earth, the larger the
depicted scale.
Coordinate Position

The surface of the globe is divided into a spherical grid for the convenience of finding
certain points. The grid consists of imaginary lines called latitude and longitude.
Latitude is a series of concentric circles paralleling the Equator and extending to both
poles. Longitude is a series of meridians, or longitudinal lines drawn between the
poles at regular intervals that pass perpendicularly through the Equator. Where a
particular latitude crosses a particular longitude, a pair of numbers, or coordinates,
can be assigned. Every point on the earth has a set of coordinates that indicate its
position relative to every other point.

Latitude is measured from zero at the Equator to 90 degrees north and south at the
poles. Longitude is measured from zero to 180 degrees west and east. The reference
lines for counting are the Equator, for latitude, and a line drawn through Greenwich
in England, the prime meridian, for longitude. These are the zero lines. A degree of
latitude is equivalent to about 112 kilometers (about 70 miles). Because longitudinal
lines converge toward the poles, degrees of longitude vary according to the position
on the earth. At the equator, one degree of longitude is the same length as one
degree of latitude, and at the north and south poles, the distance between degrees
of longitude is zero.

Degrees are divided into 60 minutes, and each minute is divided into 60 seconds. For
example, the Eiffel Tower in Paris has the following coordinates: latitude 48° 51' 32"
north and 2° 17' 35" east. Sometimes, coordinates are expressed in decimal minutes
instead of minutes and seconds, so the coordinates of the Eiffel Tower can also be
written as 48° 51.5333 north latitude and 2° 17.5833 east longitude. Most official
maps indicate latitude and longitude, so viewers know exactly what part of the earth
the map represents.

Some maps have other special-purpose coordinate systems, such as the State Plane
Coordinate System used on maps in the United States or the Universal Trans-
Mercator (UTM) system used on many military maps.

Legend

Maps use sets of symbols to indicate the placement of real objects. The legend is a
block of text or a window in which the symbols used on the map are explained.
Legend symbols can include icons to represent buildings, different colors to indicate
elevation, different types of lines to indicate borders or roads of varying size, and
dots and circles to show the relative population of towns and cities. If the details of a
map look unfamiliar, take a moment to study the legend before proceeding further.

Direction: Which Way Is Up?

Most maps give a reference point to indicate how a direction on the map corresponds
to a direction in the real world. This is crucial when using the map to travel between
points. A good map indicates a cardinal direction for such orientation, usually by an
arrow pointing north. Maps from past centuries used various cardinal directions.
Some older European maps placed East at the top, pointing to the area then known
as the Orient, leading to the term orientation. Old Muslim maps put South facing
upward. Modern maps usually adopt the convention that the top of the map
corresponds to North, the bottom to South, the left edge to West, and the right edge
to East. Direction can also be determined from coordinates, if they are shown. All
views are oriented with North as up except when the map is centered on the North
Pole or South Pole.

The poles representing the rotational axis of the earth do not correspond to the
magnetic poles, the direction a compass points. This is because the magnetic poles
constantly change position or wander. The north-pointing arrow on many accurate
maps is divided into two parts, one indicating polar and one indicating magnetic
north. The angular difference between these is known as the map’s magnetic
declination. For example, according to a 1987 map of Moscow, the compass points to
magnetic north at 7° 46' to the right of true polar north, so the magnetic declination
according to this map is 7° 46' east. The declination changes with location on the
globe and it also changes with time as the magnetic poles wander. Some localities
have a change in magnetic declination of several minutes per year. Lines of longitude
are oriented toward the rotational axis of the earth. Digital maps are made in
reference to this axis and usually ignore magnetic north.

The Ups and Downs of Maps: Elevation

Topography adds a third dimension to the flat-map picture of the world.

Cartographers use different techniques to indicate topography, which means the hills
and valleys of the surface of the earth. Early maps used bars, or lines of overlapping
triangles to show hills or mountain ranges. A few ancient maps, including a Buddhist
map from 14th century Japan, show mountains as artistic, three-dimensional figures.
Symbols such as hatched or spoked symbols were also used on some European
maps. Modern maps show mountains in shaded relief, called hill shading. Traditional
topographic maps use concentric lines, called hypsographic lines, to indicate
elevation. Each line is assigned a height above sea level. Corresponding lines
indicating ocean depth are called hydrographic lines.

Instead of concentric lines, color maps often use a standardized color scale to
indicate elevation: Sea level is blue, low land elevations are shades of green, higher
elevations range from tan to brown, and the highest peaks are shown in white,
suggesting snow. Deeper shades of blue correspond to deeper parts of lakes or
oceans.

Learning to read maps is easy and intuitive. A person can use the map skills
discussed in this Sidebar to solve navigation problems, plan future activities, or go
on a virtual pleasure trip anywhere in the world.

Source: Encarta Interactive World Atlas

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