Different Types Of Maps

By Author: Emly Gates
Total Articles: 43
Comment this article

A map is a visual representation of the Earth’s surface showing how different things are related to each other by distance, direction and size. According to Wikipedia -“Essentially used to depict geographical areas, maps may also be used to represent real or imagined space, without regard to any scale or context, like extraterrestrial mapping or DNA mapping.” The function of maps is to show:

• Location – where things are exactly situated.

• Place – All places on Earth have their own physical characteristics that give them a character and help to distinguish them from other places (for example, the main physical characteristic of the Northern Africa is the great Sahara desert).

• Relationship – this shows the interrelation between different phenomena, as in, which type of winds cause rainfall at a particular area at what times of the year.

Maps are highly useful tools and their most important uses are:

• To demarcate boundaries

• To help in analyzing and forecasting weather conditions.

• Surveying property

• They help in navigation by sea, ...
... air or land.

• They are very important to scientists who deal with different Earth surface phenomena.

The different types of maps used are:

• Topographic Maps – which show the three dimensional world with the help of contour lines. Here mountains and valleys are represented by concentric circles. Such maps are used by hikers in areas where there are no roads, by geologists who record the types of rocks in a particular place and by engineers when they are planning roads, buildings and other structures.

• Geological Maps – shows the different types of rocks that are on the surface of the Earth. These maps help to find mineral sources, like oil deposits.

• Biogeographic Maps – these maps are used in the study of animals and plants and show where they grow/live and where they move to.

• Environmental Maps – they show human activity, the physiographic features of an area such as forests, grazing lands, etc and also the different wind types. These maps are used by city planners, meteorologists and oceanographers to record and forecast.

Usually the features shown on the map are represented by conventional symbols which are explained in the margin or a separate sheet.

Lately maps are becoming more professional and interactive. For instance, flash maps used by different organizations – from businesses to educational institutes use it in their websites to show its presence in a country by showing coloured areas as areas of operations. Flash maps are good to look at and are more interactive than the traditional image maps. Users can click on the map to see relevant information about the location and also can zoom in and out of the map.

Author's Bio: Emly is a self-published author on charts for web applications. In this article she has given us a brief insight into the highlights of maps and also Flash Maps.