Map is an essential guide for travelers in determining the exact location
of the place they are not familiar with especially for tourists visiting out of the country destinations. Although maps are graphical illustrations of the lands and bodies of water, many have difficulty in using them because of various symbols, lines, colors and other indicators which are not known to many. Before you become proficient in reading maps, it is a must to first identify the different lines, symbols, color and details that you can found in a map.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAP?
1. Physical Map – It identifies all landforms and bodies of water that can be found in different parts of the earth. 2. Topography Map – It is somewhat similar to the Physical Map for showing different landforms and bodies of water; but instead of colors, contour lines are used to illustrate the elevation and changes in the landscape of the earth features. 3. Thematic Map – More than the usual details of lands and bodies of water, it also includes some additional information for the convenience of travelers such as climatic condition in the place, population density, economic activity, historical trends, and political boundaries. 4. Political Map – This map is intended to describe the state and national boundaries of places. 5. Climate Map – This describes the kind of climate that can be expected by travelers in the place of visit. Climatic zones are scientifically determined through measuring the amount of temperature, rainfall or snow, humidity, number of cloudy days and other conditions in the place. 6. Economic or Resource Map – It determines the presence of natural resources in the area which are marked with specific colors and symbols in the Legend. 7. Road Map – It is the most common type of map that is widely used by travelers. This specifies the major highways and roads in the area that travelers may tract to arrive at the desired destination.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A MAP?
1. Title – This label gives you the idea about the purpose and type of information that the map tries to show. 2. Compass Rose – It is usually a circular guide for directions located at the corner of the map. Aside from indicating the upward location of the map, it also describes the main (east, west, north, south) and the intermediary (northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest) directions toward all locations. 3. Labels – It details the different items that can be seen in the areas of the map like the names countries and capital cities, famous landmarks, names of bodies of water, and others. 4. Legend/Key – This is usually enclosed in a box and situated at the side of the map. It defines all symbols, colors and other markings used in the map. 5. Scale – It describes the ratio between the length of the map as compared to the real unit distance of lands and bodies of water on earth. For example, one centimeter of map area is equivalent to 500 miles of its actual land mass. 6. Symbols – These are graphical representations of different items that can be found in the map locations such as mountains, rivers, capital cities, natural resources, and economic activities. 7. Longitudes or Meridians - These are imaginary lines drawn from North to South Pole of the earth equidistant to one another. - Prime Meridian – It is the first longitude (0 degree) that passes through Greenwich of London. - International Date Line – It is the last meridian where the +180 degrees and -180 degrees meet. 8. Altitudes – These describe the imaginary horizontal lines that runs from east to west of the map. Some other important lines that runs through the Altitudes are: - Equator – the imaginary line situated at the middle of the earth - Tropics of Cancer – the imaginary line 23 degrees north of the Equator - Tropic of Capricorn – the imaginary line 23 degrees south of the Equator - Arctic Circle – the imaginary line that surrounds the North Pole where the Arctic is located. - Antarctic Circle – the imaginary line that surrounds the South Pole where the Antarctic is located. 9. Absolute and Relative Location – The absolute location pertains to the place on earth that fall exactly at the point where the altitude and longitude meets; whereas, relative location describes any place surrounding the altitude and longitude. 10. Inset Map – This pertains to a larger scale representation of a portion of the map and is usually projected on the uncluttered side of the map. 11. Locator Map – It shows the highlighted area of land and its location into the context of the globe.