In cartography, a map is a representation or abstraction of geographic reality. Maps are used for a wide range of purposes, including navigation, scientific research, governance, and warfare. A common use is route planning, which enables users to find their way to their destination. Specialized maps, called charts, are used for nautical navigation (nautical charts) and aviation (aeronautical charts). Scientists use maps to organize spatial data in fields such as geology, meteorology, seismology and demographics. Governments use maps 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. By 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 were important tools in the Age of Discovery, when mariners used them to explore new lands. Applications of cartography expanded in the late 17th century with the development of thematic maps, which portrayed specific kinds of data – such as rainfall or population density – rather than focusing on 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 computer cartography and geographic information systems in the mid-20th century enabled the storage of vast amounts of geographic data, which could be dynamically displayed and analyzed. Unlike paper maps, interactive maps let users zoom, pan, and choose which data to view. Geographic data used for mapmaking includes imagery, scanned paper maps, surveying measurements, geographic features, and terrain data.

Designing a map is a complex process involving the selection and arrangement of graphical elements to create a map that is informative, useful, and uncluttered. Because the amount of available geographic data often exceeds what can be effectively displayed, map designers must apply a generalization process to decide which elements to display and which to omit. The amount of detail is influenced by the map scale, expressed as a ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground. The choice of a map projection is fundamental, as every projection introduces characteristic distortions. Geographic coordinates may be displayed as latitude and longitude, or in a Cartesian (XY grid) system. In addition to geographic data, maps may include supplemental elements such as legends, scale bars, north arrows, or inset maps. (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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Maps have been one of the most important human inventions, allowing humans to explain and navigate their way. When and how the earliest maps were made is unclear, but maps of local terrain are believed to have been independently invented by many cultures. The earliest putative maps include cave paintings and etchings on tusk and stone. Maps were produced extensively by ancient Babylon, Greece, Rome, China, and India.

The earliest maps ignored the curvature of Earth's surface, both because the shape of the Earth was unknown and because the curvature is not important across the small areas being mapped. However, since the age of Classical Greece, maps of large regions, and especially of the world, have used projection from a model globe to control how the inevitable distortion gets apportioned on the map.Modern methods of transportation, the use of surveillance aircraft, and more recently the availability of satellite imagery have made documentation of many areas possible that were previously inaccessible. Free online services such as Google Earth have made accurate maps of the world more accessible than ever before. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Surviving fragment of the first World Map of Piri Reis (1513) showing parts of the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 2The Mercator 1569 world map (from History of cartography)
Image 3Charles 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 4The Mercator projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation. (The distortion increases without limit at higher latitudes) (from Scale (map))
Image 5The pundit (explorer) cartographer Nain Singh Rawat (19th century) received a Royal Geographical Society gold medal in 1876. (from History of cartography)
Image 6The 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 7The cartographic process (from Cartographic design)
Image 8A survey of Boston Harbor from Atlantic Neptune. (from History of cartography)
Image 9Reconstruction of Pomponius Mela's world map. (from History of cartography)
Image 10Infinitesimal elements on the sphere and a normal cylindrical projection (from Scale (map))
Image 11A 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 metres) (from Scale (map))
Image 12A 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 13Scale variation near the equator for the tangent (red) and secant (green) Mercator projections. (from Scale (map))
Image 14Infinitesimal elements on the sphere and a normal cylindrical projection (from Scale (map))
Image 15An 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 16Possibly 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 17Illustrated map (from Cartographic design)
Image 18The Propaganda Map, a 1529 version of the Padrón Real now held by the Vatican Library. (from History of cartography)
Image 19Scale variation for the Lambert (green) and Gall (red) equal area projections. (from Scale (map))
Image 20Lambert's normal cylindrical equal-area projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 21World Map by Juan de la Cosa (1500), the first map showing the Americas. (from History of cartography)
Image 22Clay tablet with map of the Babylonian city of Nippur (c. 1400 BC) (from History of cartography)
Image 23The world according to Hekatæus, 500 BC (from History of cartography)
Image 24The Winkel tripel projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation (from Scale (map))
Image 25CIA map of Iraq, following typical labeling guidelines to maximize legibility and association (from Cartographic design)
Image 26A chorochromatic map of world land cover, using hue, value, and saturation to differentiate nominal values (from Cartographic design)
Image 27Nautical 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 28The 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 29A chart of an unidentified area (from History of cartography)
Image 30The 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 31Modern version of the Roman Tabula Peutingeriana (5th century). (from History of cartography)
Image 32The Gough Map, a road map of 14th-century Britain (from History of cartography)
Image 33A map of Sikkim, India using shaded relief and hypsometric tints (a form of isarithm) to visualize terrain (from Cartographic design)
Image 34A portrait of a Dutch mapmaker looking up intently from his charts and holding a caliper, 1714. (from History of cartography)
Image 35A 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 36The 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 37Map 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 38Map 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 39The Da Ming Hun Yi Tu map, dating c. 1390, exists in multicolour format. (from History of cartography)
Image 40Universalis 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 41Blaeu'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 42A 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 43A general map of the world by Samuel Dunn, 1794, containing star chart, map of the Solar System, map of the Moon and other features along with Earth's both hemispheres. (from History of cartography)
Image 44Map 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 45The Equal Earth projection (2018), an increasingly popular equal-area pseudocylindrical projection for world maps (from Cartographic design)
Image 46"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 47The world according to Herodotus, 440 BC (from History of cartography)
Image 48Martin Behaim's Erdapfel (1492) is considered to be the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. (from History of cartography)
Image 49The 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 50World map Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius (1570) (from History of cartography)

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Typical Englishman John Smith is more concerned about David Beckham's fitness than his own wife's. Typical Chinese man Som Young Guy is not trying to grow the population of his country for over one month. Typical German Jurgen wants to check from the map that where about in Europe the cheating Uruguay is located.

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— Aki Riihilahti

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Aḥmad ibn Mājid (Arabic: أحمد بن ماجد), also known as the "Arab Admiral" (أمير البحر العربي, ʿAmīr al-Baḥr al-ʿArabī) and the "Lion of the Sea", was an Arab navigator and cartographer born c. 1432 in Julfar, the present-day Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. He was raised in a family famous for seafaring; at the age of seventeen he was able to navigate ships. The exact date is not known, but Ibn Mājid probably died around 1500. Although long identified in the West as the navigator who helped Vasco da Gama find his way from Africa to India, contemporary research has shown Ibn Mājid is unlikely even to have met Da Gama. Ibn Mājid was the author of nearly forty works of poetry and prose. (Full article...)

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Credit: Pedro Reinel

Nautical chart by Portuguese cartographer Pedro Reinel (c. 1504), one of the first based on astronomical observations and to depict a scale of latitudes.

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Did you know

... 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?
... that Maki Narukido researched the characters' travel times in her manga The End of the World With You using Google Maps?
... that Bartholomäus Scultetus tried to become the court cartographer of Ivan the Terrible?
... that Kaneza Schaal and Christopher Myers created Cartography after seeing a young boy playing music?
... that Kathryn Maple won the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition twice in three years?