Map should include

They are mounted on the walls of classrooms throughout the world. They show the geographic boundaries between governmental units such as countries, states, and counties. They show roads, cities and major water features such as oceans, rivers and lakes.

Political maps help people understand the geography of the world. They are usually the first type of map that students are introduced to in school.

They are also known as "reference maps" because people refer to them again and again as they have questions. Political maps are often printed on paper or another physical medium, but they can also be produced in digital form, suitable for viewing online. Every day millions of people visit search engines to find political reference maps.

Some of the most popular searches are for " united states map ", " world map ", " europe map ", and " florida map ".

Thousands of different political reference maps have been prepared to show the current geography of the United States. There are maps of the entire nation, maps for each of the 50 states, maps of the counties parishes in Louisiana, and boroughs in Alaska that make up the states.

Most counties, boroughs and parishes are further subdivided into even smaller political units. An incredible number of political maps have been prepared just to display the geography of the United States. The maps most commonly seen in classrooms and offices are political maps of the world, countries and continents.

They are often annotated with push pins, sticky notes, photographs, marker flags and string to show the travels of a family, locations of a business, or other locations and activities worthy of display. Election Results Map: Sometimes considered to be a different variety of "political map", "election results maps" show the results of an election by geographic subdivision or voting district. In recent years they show states won by Republican candidates in red and states won by Democratic candidates in blue.

The example above shows the results of the Presidential election of the United States. Map and caption from Wikipedia. Election results maps might be considered to be a variety of "political maps". These maps show the geographic areas where a candidate for public office received a majority of support from voters. The geographic areas are usually political subdivisions of a country states , of a state counties , etc. States won by a majority of votes for the Republican candidate are known as "red states", and those won by a majority of votes for the Democratic candidate are known as "blue states".

The accompanying map is an example. It maps the results of the United States presidential election. These maps might be considered "thematic maps" while the election is in progress and while the results are in the news. However, shortly thereafter they might be considered as "reference maps" of historical significance. Physical Map: This physical map of Eurasia shows the topography of the land in a color-gradient relief. Dark greens are used for near-sea-level elevations, and the green grades to tan and brown as elevation increases.

The highest elevations are shown in shades of gray. If you are familiar with the physical features of Eurasia, you can probably recognize the Himalaya Mountain Range, the Tibetan Plateau, the Alps, and the more subtle Ural Mountains.

Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake by volume, can be seen in central Asia. Physical maps are designed to show the natural landscape features of Earth. They are best known for showing topography, either by colors or as shaded relief.

Physical maps often have a green to brown to gray color scheme for showing the elevation of the land. Darker greens are used for near-sea-level elevations, with the color grading into tans and browns as elevations increase. The color gradient often terminates in shades of gray for the highest elevations. Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans are usually shown in blue, often with a light blue color for the most shallow areas and darkening in a gradient or by intervals for areas of deeper water.

Glaciers and ice caps are shown in white colors. Physical maps usually show the most important political boundaries, such as state and country boundaries. Major cities and major roads are often shown.

This cultural information is not the focus of a physical map, but it is often included for geographic reference and to increase the utility of the map for many users. Google Map of Washington, D. It superbly presents road and street maps. It is also the world's favorite route planning and street view service. The service has been specifically designed for those tasks. Google Maps also has special tools that enable you to query "nearby" restaurants, hotels, bars and pubs, museums, pizza, bike shops, schools, attorneys, etc.

If you allow Google Maps to use your current GPS location, you can use the "add destination" tool to plot a car, walking, bike, or public transportation route. Google Maps will even estimate the amount of time required for your trip.

The author uses this feature of Google Maps more than any other mapping tool. The digital mapping revolution caused an explosion of map creation in the s. In , MapQuest , the first popular online mapping service, allowed anyone with internet access the ability to create customized maps of almost any location in the United States.

Within a few months, millions of people had become "cartographers". They were soon producing more unique maps in a single day than had been created during the entire history of paper cartography! Today, Google Maps is the world's most popular online mapping system. In addition to maps, the service also provides travel route directions. It can create directions for people who are driving, taking public transportation, walking, cycling or taking a plane.

Billions of unique maps, millions of travel routes, and millions of street views are created each day with Google Maps. It is the first place millions of people go to plan any type of travel. Google has another product named " Google Earth " that allows people to view streets, roads and satellite images within a single interface.

Google Earth is a free download - the software installs on your computer and fetches the image directly from the Google Earth server. The maps present a combination of road, topography, cultural and recreational information. These "hybrid maps" are a favorite of people who work and play outdoors in rural areas. This map shows Earth's topography using brown contour lines with a contour interval of 20 feet.

Roads, place names, streams and other features are also shown. Areas on the map where the brown contour lines are close together have steep slopes. Areas where the contour lines are spaced far apart have gentler slopes. If you would like to view the full 7.

Political maps show the borders and territorial designations that countries have decided upon, whereas physical maps aim to accurately recreate a visual representation of the physical landscape of a given zone. To put the information of the map into context, cartographers must add a map scale. The presence of a map scale allows for a map to be physically and visually distinct from other maps, yet still accurately represent the same relative amount of distance between each feature.

The map scale usually appears as a series of lines taken from a ruler and added to the page in one corner with a label of the specific units of measurement used. Next to or underneath this measurement is the real-world distance physically represented by each unit of distance on the scale, such that one inch on the map is equivalent to one mile or even hundreds of miles depending on the scope of the image. The explanation for all the symbols scattered throughout the image falls into the category of a map key.

Online Cartography Links. Regardless of the cartographic style or content, most maps have the following common elements. These are the "Golden Rules of Cartography" though in truth there are no 'rules' in cartography.

TITLE: the title should be in a large font, easily identifiable as the title of the map and should include descriptive text as to the location and purpose of the map. If the map is thematic, the theme should be included in the title.

For example: Corn Production in Washington, The title is usually the largest font size of all lettering on the layout, however, it should not dominate the map graphic itself.

The legend tells the viewer that the lighter the color, the longer the last recorded date of fire has been.

The title is important because it instantly gives the viewer a succinct description of the subject matter of the map. The 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.

The 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.