BASIC GEOGRAPHY

TOOLS OF GEOGRAPHY
 maps

globes
charts

graphs
computer
TYPES OF MAPS AND THEIR
INTERPRETATION
 MAPS

 A depiction of an area in
graphic form
 A scaled drawing of a
portion of the earth’s
surface
 ATTRIBUTES OF MAPS

 Capability to show distance,

direction, size and shape spatial
relationship in their horizontal
 The best way of communicating
information about the earth’s
surface
 Indispensable tools for
geographers because they provide
graphic displays of where
something is located and they are
often helpful in providing clues as
to why such a distribution occurs
 WHAT MAPS ILLUSTRATE

 Show land and water forms, a large community of

climate, regions, natural resources living organisms (plants,
animals and microbes)
and ecosystem in a particular area
 Show population distribution, land
use and transportation routes
 Historical maps show what the
world was once before
 Political maps show the world as it
is today
 • It is a system whereby the rounded
MAP PROJECTION surface of the Earth is transformed
in order to display it on a flat
surface
• Consist of an orderly arrangement
of the geographic grid (meridians
and parallels) transposed from the
globe to the map
• Devised in an effort to minimize
the problem of distortion when
transforming data from a spherical
surface (earth) to a flat surface
(map)
 • Mercator projection, type of map
MERC ATOR PROJECTION
projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus
Mercator. It is often described as a
cylindrical projection, but it must be
derived mathematically.
• Best used for navigating at sea because a
line connecting ant two points gives the
best possible compass direction between
• Presents the right shape of the continents,
islands and oceans. This is due to the fact
that on Mercator maps, lands far from the
Equator appear larger than they are.
 • Useful when comparing areas in different
EQUAL-AREA PROJECTION
parts of the world
• Shows the true area which represents the
same amount of the earth’s surface
• If one square inch of such map represents
a certain number of square miles on the
earth’s surface, then every other square
inch of the map will represent an equal
number of square miles on earth
• Useful for displaying an entire hemisphere.
• Represents areas in their proper
proportions
 • Like a peeled orange that is flattened out
INTERRUPTED PROJECTION
• Shows the continents or oceans with very
little distortion in shape or size.
• Each continent or ocean is centered on its
own central meridian
• Can be made to feature ocean areas by
cutting apart the continents instead.
• Purpose: to portray certain areas (usually
continents) more accurately, at the
expense of some portions in the map
(usually oceans), that are not important to
the map’s theme.
KINDS OF MAPS
 PHYSIC AL MAP
 Emphasizes the natural features of the
Earth such as continents, oceans, rivers,
seas, islands and lakes
 Color is often used to show the different
land surfaces
 Example:
 Green – plains
 Yellow – plateaus
 Light brown – hills
 Deep brown – mountains
 The key or legend of the map usually
shows what the color means
 POLITIC AL MAP

 Chief purpose: to show man-

made features such as nations
and their boundaries, cities,
capitals, canals and dams
 Colors are used to portray
countries, which help present
the sizes and shapes of the
different countries and their
easy location
 SPECIAL-PURPOSE MAP
 A map which summarizes and presents
information of a specific kind
 Example: many farmers have soil maps
made of their farms. A soil map shows
what types of soil are in an area, so he
can use this information to decide what
kinds of crops will grow well on his farm
 Travelers use maps that show railroads,
truck routes, canals, sea lanes and other
routes. A collection of these maps is
called an Atlas
TOPOGRAPHIC OR CONTOUR MAP
 Shows the roughness of the earth’s
surface. The earth’s surface is
irregular due to its mountains,
valleys, hills and plains
 Shows the roughness of the earth’s
surface called contour lines. The
spaces between the contour lines
may be filled with different shades
of colors.
 Colors are used to represent
different heights of land.
 C ARTOGRAM MAP
 An extreme variation of the
special-purpose map, designed to
send a strong specific message to
the map reader
 The size of the areas shown on a
cartogram does not truly represent
the countries or continents but
instead relates some other facts
about them
HOW TO READ MAPS
Map’s basic elements which a map user should
know how to read:
1. Scale
2. The symbols or legends
3. Grids
4. projections
MAP SC AL E S