Types of Maps

We explain the types of maps and the characteristics of physical, political, geological, climatic, topographical maps and more.

types of maps
Each type of map highlights one topic above the rest of the information.

Types of maps

Maps are the cartographic documents par excellence, which consist of a graphic or visual representation of the Earth's surface distinguishing the edges of the continental shelf and the ocean, among other possible characteristics of a topographic, political, demographic nature, etc.

In fact, Depending on the type of information they contain, maps can be of different types: that is its most common form of classification. Thus, we can talk about political, demographic, topographical maps, etc., all considered “thematic” maps, that is, they highlight a topic above the rest of the information.

Another possible classification of maps takes into account the scale used to represent this information, thus distinguishing small-scale maps (less than 1:100,000) and large-scale maps (greater than 1:10,000).

See also: Cartography

Physical or relief maps

They are those who represent the planetary surface with emphasis on geographical features and in the relief that characterizes it, such as mountains, valleys, depressions, etc., usually indicating the values ​​of height, humidity and vegetation. They are maps of very common use, in academic and informative settings.

Political maps

types of political maps
Political maps indicate borders between countries and important cities.

They are those who represent the earth's surface taking into account the political-administrative division of nations that is, the borders between countries, and indicating the capital cities and other important data, such as important localities, names of regions and usually rivers, mountains and prominent natural regions.

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Geological maps

As their name indicates, they are those that represent the earth's surface from a geological point of view, that is, look at the distinctions between the types of minerals, sediments and materials that compose it as well as resources of economic value or outstanding deposits. Volcanoes, geological faults and seismic regions also generally take place there.

Climate maps

They are those that focus not so much on the Earth's surface, but rather on the state of the atmospheric gas mass that determines the climates. So, usually divide the world into climatic regions that is, in areas where one type of climate predominates over others. They should not be confused with weather maps, which represent temporary atmospheric phenomena that occur in a region, such as those used for weather forecasting.

Topographic maps

types of topographic maps
Topographic maps indicate the altitudes and shapes of the terrain.

Topographic maps are those that represent the Earth's surface, taking note of the altitudes and landforms of each region. That is to say that pay attention to natural and artificial elevations and they use specific, technical terminology that provides specific information about the three-dimensionality of the world.

Linguistic maps

Those who no longer serve the surface of the planet, but indicate language trends of those who inhabit it, that is, to the ways in which one or more languages, dialects or linguistic phenomena are distributed among the different populations of the region. There may be linguistic maps that focus on different languages, or that take into account geographical variants of the same language.

Tourist maps

Those that represent the planetary surface of a region, emphasizing relevant information for those who wish to visit it and/or get to know it, such as monuments, historical locations, national parks, important cities and commercial or gastronomic regions.

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Time zone maps

types of time zones maps
Each time zone has a specific official time.

Those that represent the entire Earth's surface, or perhaps some of its continents in particular, along with the layout of the meridians that determine the time zones of each region, that is, the official time of each country (or its internal regions, if any).

Continue with: Meridians and parallels

References

  • “Map” on Wikipedia.
  • “Types of maps” (video) on CNTV Infantil.
  • “Cartographic concepts” in the National Cartographic Institute of the Government of Spain.