TYPES OF MAPS

While there are many different types of maps that exist within the discipline of cartography, there are six types that immediately come to my mind.

Physical map: Physical maps display the physical features of a place, including land and water features such as mountains, plains, rivers, and oceans. Physical maps utilize colors to differentiate between various physical features as well as the elevations of those features, although for understanding elevation, topographic maps are much more useful.

Topographic map: Topographic maps also display physical features, using contour lines instead of color to show changes in the landscape, such as elevation. The spacing of contour lines are even and help differentiate between steep and flat features; for example, a mountain may have many closely knit contour lines to show steepness and a high elevation, whereas flatlands may have spread apart contour lines to show flatness and a low elevation.

Road map: Road maps are used to show highways and roads with varying levels of detail, as well as important natural and manmade locations such as connecting cities or national parks. Road maps also differentiate between the sizes of roads; for example, a national highway would likely be wide and red, whereas a smaller road would be narrow and grey.

Climate map: Climate maps convey information about the climate conditions of an area, including temperature and precipitation. Climate maps are also usually color-coded to differentiate between various climate zones, such as Mediterranean or tundra climates.

Political map: Political maps are used to display artificial boundaries such as state or national borders, as well as cities and sometimes bodies of water. Political maps are often color-coded to differentiate between different countries or states.

Economic map: Economic maps display the arrangement of natural resources and economic activity within a place. Economic maps are usually color-coded to differentiate between the various resources or economic activity present within the place.

“POLITICAL MAPS

A political map does not show topographic features like mountains. It focuses solely on the state and national boundaries of a place. They also include the locations of cities large and small, depending on the detail of the map.

A common type of political map would be one showing the 50 U.S. states and their borders along with the United States' international borders.

PHYSICAL MAPS

A physical map is one documents landscape features of a place. They generally show things like mountains, rivers, and lakes. Bodies of water are always shown with blue. Mountains and elevation changes are usually shown with different colors and shades to show relief. Normally on physical maps, green shows lower elevations while browns show high elevations.

This map of Hawaii is a physical map. Low elevation coastal regions are shown in dark green, while the higher elevations transition from orange to dark brown. Rivers are shown in blue.

TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS

A topographic map is similar to a physical map in that it shows different physical landscape features. Unlike physical maps, this type of may uses contour lines instead of colors to show changes in the landscape. Contour lines on topographic maps are normally spaced at regular intervals to show elevation changes (e.g. each line represents a 100-foot (30m) elevation change) and when lines are close together the terrain is steep.

This topographic map of the Big Island of Hawaii has contour lines that are close together near the steep, high elevation mountains of Mauna Loa and Kilauea. By contrast, the low elevation, flat coastal areas show contour lines that are spread apart.

CLIMATE MAPS

A climate map shows information about the climate of an area. They can show things like the specific climatic zones of an area based on the temperature, the amount of snow an area receives or the average number of cloudy days. These maps normally use colors to show different climatic areas.

This climate map for Australia uses colors to show differences between the temperate area of Victoria and desert region in the center of the continent.

ECONOMIC OR RESOURCE MAPS

An economic or resource map shows the specific types of economic activity or natural resources present in an area through the use of different symbols or colors depending on what is being shown on the map.

An economic activity map for Brazil can use colors to show different agricultural products of given areas, letters for natural resources and symbols for different industries.

ROAD MAPS

A road map is one of the most widely used map types. These maps show major and minor highways and roads (depending on detail), as well as things like airports, city locations and points of interest such as parks, campgrounds, and monuments. Major highways on a road map are generally shown in red and larger than other roads, while minor roads are a lighter color and a narrower line.

A road map of California, for example, would depict Interstate highways with a wide red or yellow line, while state highways would be shown in a narrower line in the same color.

Depending on the level of detail, the map may also show county roads, major city arteries, and rural routes. These are usually depicted in shades of gray or white.

THEMATIC MAPS

A thematic map is a map that focuses on a particular theme or special topic. They are different from the six aforementioned general reference maps because they do not just show natural features like rivers, cities, political subdivisions, elevation, and highways. If these items are on a thematic map, they are background information and are used as reference points to enhance the map's theme.”

Types of Maps (examples)

Physical: shows altitude in different colors, usually from green to dark brown and white, rivers, lakes and bays

Topographical: includes contour lines

Thematical: it shows areas with colours that shows you a theme.

Road maps: depicts roads and cities

Bathymetric: shows depths and approach channels to ports and fishing areas, keys and shoals

Aeronautical: shows air routes, airports, approachs

Weather: shows cold and warm fronts, high and low pressure areas, winds

Schematic: gives you a schema of the routes for a transportation system

Navigational or shipping lanes

Mixed: another example of shipping lanes but with info about transportation

What are the parts of a map?Numbered below are descriptions of cartographic elements that are commonly found on a map layout. Some maps have all eight elements while other maps may only contain a few of them.

1. LegendThe legend serves as the decoder for the symbology in the data frame. Therefore, it is also commonly known as the key. Descriptions detailing any color schemata, symbology or categorization is explained here. In the legend below, the fire history schemata has been categorized with a graduating color scheme. The legend details which colors refer to which years. Without the legend, the color scheme on the map would make no sense to the viewer. The legend tells the viewer that the lighter the color, the longer the last recorded date of fire has been.

3. TitleThe title is important because it instantly gives the viewer a succinct description of the subject matter of the map. The title “Fire History in Topanga, California” quickly tells the viewer the subject matter and location of the data.

4. Compass RoseThe purpose of the north arrow is for orientation. This allows the viewer to determine the direction of the map as it relates to due north. Most maps tend to be oriented so that due north faces the top of the page. There are exceptions to this and having the north arrow allows the viewer to know which direction the data is oriented. To learn more about when to use a North Arrow, read “To North Arrow or Not to North Arrow“.

5. ScaleThe scale explains the relationship of the data frame extent to the real world. The description is a ratio. This can be shown either as a unit to unit or as one measurement

to another measurement. Therefore a scale showing a 1:10,000 scale means that every one paper map unit represents 10,000 real world units. For example 1:10,000 in inches means that a measurement of one inch on the map equals 10,000 inches in real life. The second method of depicting scale is a comparison with different unit types. For example, 1″:100′ means that every inch measure on the paper map represents 100 feet in the real world. This ratio is the same as 1:1200 (1 foot = 12 inches). In addition to text representation as described above, the ratio can be shown graphically in the form of a scale bar. Maps that are not to scale tend have have a “N.T.S” notation which stands for “Not to scale.”

6. CitationThe citation portion of a map constitutes the metadata of the map. This is the area where explanatory data about the data sources and currency, projection information and any caveats are placed. In the example below, the citation tells the source and date of the data. Citations help the viewer determine the use of the map for their own purposes.