The Map
- A simplified representation of reality. It's a drawing of a selected
characteristics of a place essential elements like territory or
geographical features, usually drawn on a flat surface.
map history
- The earliest known world map was scratched on
clay tablets in the ancient city of Babylon
sometime around 600 B.C.
- It shows the world as a flat disc surrounded by
an ocean.
- The Arabic geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi
made one of the most advanced and accurate
world maps, it was ahead of it’s time compared to
other maps made by others,
because it used information
from traveler and merchant
that roam the world in his era.
- The original map was oriented
upside-down (south-up) As did most
of Arab maps of that time, to put the
arabinan peninsula near the top of the world
By MR. Amir Salah
and in the center of all cotenants.
Types of maps
Political Maps
Political Boundary Maps are used to define
the boundaries of countries,
states, and territories. They
show the political divisions
within an area, it doesn't show
features like mountains
Thematic Maps
They are types of maps
generated to focus on specific
theme in particular geographic
region like climate, population
density, or health….
Physical Maps
Are maps displays details and information
About the natural surface features of an area
like elevations and landforms and most of the
times it uses colors coding and some times is
called Topographic Maps.
Geological Maps
illustrating Earth’s geological diversity
like boundaries and movements of
tectonic plates or rock types, it
also include Earthquake and
Volcanic Hazard maps that
show the distribution, magnitude
and location of earthquakes or
potential impact of volcanic
activity.
Economic maps
An economic or resource map
shows the specific types of
economic activity or resources present
in an area by using of symbols or colors.
Road Maps
These maps show major and minor highways and
roads (depending on the degree of detail)
Thematic Maps
It is called a thematic map because the map has a specific
theme or a subject. And The subject must be connected to a
particular geographic location. the data and geography
connection makes this type of maps is the most common.
Types of Thematic Maps
Isoline Map It uses continuous lines
that represent data of the same
value, like a specific elevation,
pressure systems or areas of similar
temperatures, the benefit of isoline
Same map of Palestine west bank showing two
map is that it is easy to read and interpret the gradual
different themes
changes in value, But it can be challenging to make.
Cartogram Map It stretches or shrinks the data’s
area on the map but still in the approximately
correct location, a cartogram does not
represent real physical space like population
maps, The benefit to using a cartogram is that
it exhibits numbers in visual form, But distort
the geographical area.
Choropleth Map known for shading colors within the geographical extent
of the data to highlight patterns like disease spread or political
affiliation, The benefit is that it is visually effective and Users can
detect relationship between the data and geographic location, But
coloring of an area take off all other data present on it
map key and legend
Reading The Map
grid references
A map key is a set of instructions to be used when
reading a map and is critical in understanding what
a map means. A map legend is the
same but including symbols and
colors to represent various objects.
Maps contain numbered lines vertical and horizontal. the grid
reference locations on the map,
which is found using vertical and
horizontal numbered lines.
1: Line up your destination on map.
2: Align the compass to grid north
3: Adjust for magnetic variation, difference between
magnetic north and
geographical north is -1°
to 4° depending on your
position
4: Line yourself up
isolines connect points of equal value, isolines
do not cross or touch (with the exception of
vertical gradients, like
cliffs), the interval is
the numerical
difference between
adjacent isolines and is
usually the same over
the entire map
isolines pass between higher and
lower values
isolines show gradients, defined as
the amount of change over
distance. Isolines close together
show a high gradient, isolines far
apart represent a low gradient.
using a compass
map scales
Map scale refers to the relationship (or ratio)
between distance on a map and the corresponding
distance on the ground.
For example, a 1:100000
scale map, 1cm on the
map equals 1km on the
ground
Reading Isoline Maps
Locating a Points on the Globe
- When describing location, it is common to mention the city, state, or
country as a location descriptor. It is also common to talk about
landmarks that may be nearby. But the most efficient way to describe
a location is to use coordinates, or absolute position, on the globe.
- Two types of imaginary reference lines are used to locate positions,
parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. Two of these
imaginary reference lines are the equator and the prime meridian.
- The equator is the imaginary circle drawn
around the earth halfway between the north and
south poles. The half of the earth to the north of
the equator is the northern hemisphere, the other half is southern hemisphere.
- Parallels of Latitude is measured in degrees from 0˚ to 90˚ north (N) or south (S) of
the equator as a radius is drawn from an imaginary
point at the center of the earth and they are different
sizes circles parallel to the equator and to each other.
- Meridians of Longitude are imaginary half-circles running from North to
the South Poles, Since every meridian must cross the equator, the
equatorial circle can be divided into 2x180° degrees labeling the meridians.
- the prime meridian By international agreement is
drawn through Greenwich, England. Meridians are
numbered east (E) and west (W) from the prime
meridian, East and west longitude meet at 180˚.
- Some time (N) and (E) is replaced by (+) while (S) and
(W) replaced by (-), so for example, Washington DC has a
latitude + 38.8951 and longitude -77.0364