Theory

Definition of Map

The map is a conventional description appearance of the earth that is reduced and
drawn on a flat plane with many additions of writing as an explanation. (Erwin
Raisz,1948)

Type of Map

There are 2 main of map. They are reference map and thematic map. A reference
map shows the location of the geographic areas for which census data are
tabulated and disseminated. The maps display the boundaries, names and unique
identifiers of standard geographic areas, as well as major cultural and physical
features, such as roads, railroads, coastlines, rivers and lakes. Unlike a reference
map, a thematic map usually presents only one topic. A thematic map is
a map designed to focus attention on a particular data set, like rainfall, crime,
species diversity, or poverty.

The following map classification according to several aspects

Classification of Maps Based on Scale

Scale is an important factor which controls the amount of details that can be
represented using a map. A mere figure with lines and symbols cannot be called as a
map with out scale. Scale can be defined as the representative fraction by which the
actual features are enlarged or decreased in size for preparing a graphic
diagram(map).
One can classify maps into 2 types depending on the scale used for producing the
map.

 Large Scale Maps

Large scale maps have higher representative factor. Hence, features in
large scale map appear bigger compared to small scale maps. In other
words, large scale maps show more details of the given area. As a result
these maps represent relative small areas with greater details. These maps
are prepared based on the requirement as they are difficult to prepare due
to less generalization and more details.

Large scale maps may be further sub divided into following categories
a. Cadastral Maps:
These maps are prepared by revenue authority to collect the taxes, and
generate revenue estimates etc. These maps show land ownership details
with boundaries at field level. Scale of these maps may be in the range of
1:5000 to 1:10.000.
b. Topographical Maps:
These maps represent topographical details of an area such as drainage
network, forest cover, elevation, roads, monuments etc, with the help of
symbols, colors etc. These are prepared on a relatively larger scale
compared with cadastral maps. In India, Survey of India prepares
topographic maps, in United States USGS takes the responsibility for same.
The scale of these maps may be from 1: 5.000 to 1:250.000.

 Small Scale Maps

These maps are opposite to large scale maps and have relatively smaller
scaling factor. These maps show lesser amount of details but cover larger
areas in a single map. More generalization of details occur as large area is
shown in a single map document.

Following are different types of small scale maps.

a. Atlas maps and Wall maps:

These are the maps which we commonly see in class rooms, offices etc.
These maps are prepared with a very large scale such as 1:1.000.000. Atlas
maps are very generalized and represent very large amount of area i.e., in
some case whole country or continent. However, if one can read lot of
useful information such as relief, road networks etc from these maps also.

Classification of Maps Based on Purpose:

Maps can be classified into different types depending on their usage also.
Following different types of maps based on their purpose.

1. Physical Maps

2. Cultural Maps

The above 2 categories are broadly based on their purpose and can be
further subdivided into several other types of maps depending on usage.

Physical Maps:

Physical maps shows the natural features of the terrain such as drainage,
geology, forest cover, soil cover etc. Depending on the features that are
mapped in physical maps, they are further divided into different types as
below.

a.Geological Maps: Geological maps show different types of rocks and

geological features such as faults, folds, minerals etc., of a terrain.

b. Relief Maps: Relief maps show the presence of mountains, valleys etc.,
they represent the natural variation of terrain in terms of slope and
elevation.

c. Other Maps:

Other types of maps include climate maps, soil maps, drainage maps etc.
These maps represent details such as temperature, rainfall, drainage pattern
and soil type etc.
 Cultural Maps:

Cultural maps are made of man features such as road networks,

monuments, boundary lines etc. Often these maps are also used for
illustrating certain details such as population, economy, literacy etc.

Following are different types of cultural maps.

a. Transportation Network Maps:

As the name says these maps represent details of different types of road and
rail network present in the area. Ex: National highways, district roads along
with railway network is mapped.

b. Political Maps:

Political maps show the details of administrative boundaries, headquarters

and capitals of countries, states and districts.

c. Other Maps:

Other types of maps include population maps, literacy maps, economic

maps, export maps etc. These maps are prepared based on the specific
application at that point of time and details tend to vary at every time of
mapping. (justbtech)

Element of Map

elements of the map that we must regard to :

 Data Frame, is an image of a map that is presented to the public. So this
is a very important thing because it is the main focus of the thing
discussed.
 Title, The title is the subject of this map, later when the reader reads the
title they will get information about what is contained in the map.
 Legend, Legend is the key of information from various symbols on the
map, color differences, and other categorizations on the map.
  North arrow, purpose for orientation. inform the reader that the direction
top of paper is north.
 Scale, Scale provides an overview of the relationship between these
two-dimensional images with the real world.
 Citation, the map citation, contains additional data related to data sources
and currencies, projected information and any monitions are placed.

Map Symbols

Since a map is a reduced representation of the real world, map symbols are used to
represent real objects. Without symbols, we wouldn't have maps.

Both shapes and colors can be used for symbols on maps. A small circle may mean a
point of interest, with a brown circle meaning recreation, red circle meaning services,
and green circle meaning rest stop. Colors may cover larger areas of a map, such as
green representing forested land and blue representing waterways.

To ensure that a person can correctly read a map, a Map Legend is a key to all the
symbols used on a map. It is like a dictionary so you can understand the meaning of
what the map represents.

some common symbols:

BUILDINGS AND RELATED FEATURES

Building

School; church

Built-up Area

Racetrack

Airport
Landing strip

Well (other than water); windmill

Tanks

Covered reservoir

Gaging station

Landmark object (feature as labeled)

Campground; picnic area

Cemetery: small; large

ROADS AND RELATED FEATURES

Primary highway

Secondary highway

Light duty road

Unimproved road

Trail

Dual highway
Dual highway with median strip

Road under construction

Underpass; overpass

Bridge

Drawbridge

Tunnel

Map Scale

The scale of the map can interpreted as a comparison of the distance between two
arbitrary points on the map with the horizontal length of the two points on the
surface of the earth/field (with the same size). Map Scale is an essential map
component because with map scale we can find out the distance between two
places. Map Scale is a comparison between the distance on the map and the actual
distance on the surface of the earth.
There are map and ground with three different types of scale. Verbal scale
expresses in words a relation between a map distance and a ground distance.
Usually it is along the lines of:
One inch represents 16 miles.
It is implied that the one inch is on the map, and that one inch represents 16
miles on the ground. Verbal scales are commonly found on popular atlases
and maps.
The second type of scale is a graphic scale, or bar scale. This shows directly
on the map the corresponding ground distance. For example:
The third type of scale is a representative fraction, or ratio scale. Compared to the
back then. It is the most abstract, but also the most versatile. A representative fraction,
or RF, shows the relation between one of any unit on the map and one of the same
unit on the ground. RF’s may be shown as an actual fraction, for example 1/24,000,
but are usually written with a colon, as in 1:24,000. In this example, one unit of any
length (one mm, one cm, one inch, one foot, etc.) on the map represents 24,000 of
those same units on the ground (24,000 mm, 24,000 cm, 24,000", 24,000', etc.). The
RF is versatile because the user are not tied to any specific units. It can be worked in
any unit you choose, either metric, English, or other.

The RF is a called a fraction because it is just that--a fraction that shows how much
the real world is reduced to fit on the map. A good comparison is often made with
scale models of automobiles or aircraft. A 1/32-model of an auto is 1/32nd as large as
the actual auto. In the same way, a 1:100,000-scale map is 1/100,000th as large as the
ground area shown on the map.

A related idea is that of small scale versus large scale. Geographers use these terms
differently than many people. A large scale map is where the RF is relatively large. A
1:1200 map is therefore larger scale than a 1:1,000,000 map. The 1:1,000,000 map
would usually be called a small scale map. This is true even though the 1:1,000,000
map would show a much larger area than the 1:1200 map.

Here is a rule of thumb for size of scale by RF:

Size of Representative Franction

Scale (RF)

Large Scale 1:25,000 or larger

Medium 1:1,000,000 to 1:25,000

Scale

Small Scale 1:1,000,000 or smaller

Definetly, small or large scale is relative. surveying text (Brinker & Wolf, 1984) that
classed anything smaller than 1:12,000 as small scale -- surveyors rarely work with
anything smaller than this.

The large/small scale terminology can become confusing when talking about large
versus small areas. If you are talking about a phenomenon that occurs across a large
region, it is tempting to say it's a large-scale phenomenon (e.g., "the forest blight is a
large-scale disease"). But since the map that would show this would be small-scale, it
is better to use a different term to avoid confusion. My favorite is "broad-scale."

Many maps include two or even all three types of scales. USGS topographic maps
have both bar scales and RFs.