Before we get to the question of what types of maps there are, we should first answer a more basic one:
What is a map?
Every one of us has come across a map at least once in their life. If you drive, you have certainly used one, whether on a screen or in good old-fashioned paper form. If you play video games, you have probably met a map in more than one of them.
You can see a map in a shopping centre, and sometimes even on road signs. Maps are all around us and have accompanied people in all sorts of everyday activities since the dawn of time.
The most popular type of map shows some area of the Earth’s surface, although there are also maps of the sky and of other celestial bodies.
Let’s come back down to Earth, though. Since our planet is roughly the shape of a ball (more precisely, an ellipsoid flattened at the poles, and more precisely still, a geoid), showing its features on a flat surface such as a sheet of paper or a computer screen comes with certain difficulties. Such a representation will never be 100% accurate.
It is easy to picture: try wrapping an apple in a sheet of paper. The paper will never lie smoothly and snugly against the apple’s round surface. You will get creases and bumps, and in some places the paper may even tear.
Different map projections solve this problem in different ways, and each solution has its pros and cons.
Another feature of every map is its scale, usually given as a representative fraction. It is the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground.
To put it as simply as possible: if things on the map are 100 times smaller than in reality, the map has a scale of 1:100. As you can easily work out, on such a map every stretch that is a kilometre long in real life is shown as a 10-metre stretch, because 1000 metres divided by 100 (the scale) = 10 metres.
Another way of working out real distances from a map at any scale is to replace the “1” with one centimetre. Take 1:100 000: that gives 1 cm : 100 000 cm, which means that every centimetre on the map equals 1 km on the ground.
Looking at almost any map, ideally a paper one, you will notice various symbols, signs and colours drawn on it. Each symbol or colour can mean something different depending on the map, although there are a few universal symbols, known as map symbols or cartographic signs.
A spot height, for example, is a symbol (a point on the map) that appears on a great many maps. It usually looks like a large dot and marks the position of peaks, passes, cliff edges, the lowest point of a depression or the place where two rivers meet.
The spot height is also often used as an elevation marker on the map. When a map is covered in symbols, it is easy to get lost in it. That is why clever people came up with something called the map legend. A map legend, however, has nothing to do with tales of dragons and princesses.
The legend describes and explains all the more important symbols on the map. Almost every map has one, bigger or smaller, more or less detailed.
The last important feature of a map is its level of detail. Every map contains some simplifications and generalisations. That makes sense: you cannot show absolutely everything, a whole city for instance, with perfect accuracy, especially on small-scale maps below 1:500 000.
That is why cartographers (cartography is the science of maps, and a cartographer is someone who works in the field professionally) use the symbols mentioned earlier, plus plenty of generalisations and simplifications, to strike a sensible balance between accuracy on one side and readability and usefulness on the other.
Let’s sum up what we know so far
What is a map? It is a graphic representation of a surface or a layout, drawn to an appropriate scale using a chosen map projection. Maps also contain many map symbols and signs, which are partly explained by the legend and partly follow accepted conventions.
To make a map (in the case we are looking at, that means showing a sphere on a flat surface), you need:
- a map projection, in other words a suitable way of flattening the globe.
- a consistent map scale
- symbols described in the map legend
- a chosen degree of simplification
Map elements, or what (almost) every map is made of
This part is fairly simple. A map consists of three basic elements:
- the map image, i.e. the content of the map, which is its main part
- the mathematical elements (scale, grid, scale bar, frame with degree markings),
- the legend.
Map scale
I have already said a bit about map scale, so you now know how to work out the scale of a map. You will find more on calculating map scale at this link (in Polish).
Scale is a very important feature of a map, which is why one of the key ways of classifying maps is by scale.
There are 3 basic ranges (their boundaries differ depending on the textbook and the country):
- large-scale maps (from 1:100 to 1:20 000)
- medium-scale maps (from 1:20 000 to 1:500 000)
- small-scale maps (below 1:500 000)
The general rule is that the larger the scale of a map, the more detail it contains. It is not an absolute rule, though: there are also big, wall-sized small-scale maps that don’t contain much detail and only show a rough outline of the land.
Classifying maps by content
Different types of maps can end up in different groups and categories depending on how you classify them. One of the most important ways of dividing maps is by content:
- general geographic maps
- topographic
- topographic overview
- overview
- thematic maps
- socio-economic
- natural and physical geographic
- political and administrative
The most important types of maps
There really are a lot of map types, but in the vast majority of cases, in everyday life, we come across three of them.
Political map
The main job of a political map is to show the territory of countries, cities and other administrative areas, along with the course of borders and the location of dependent territories, if there are any.
Political maps usually leave out landforms such as hills and depressions. They also tend to skip railways, roads and settlements, although capitals and the largest cities of a given country or territory are almost always marked.
General geographic map, sometimes also called a physical map
A general geographic map contains most of the main features of the Earth’s surface and its shape. That means rivers and lakes, built-up areas and forests, but also mountains and hills, depressions, canyons and other landforms.
This type of map is the most widespread and the most versatile. It gives you an overview of the most important features of an area. General geographic maps keep the same relative level of detail throughout. Their scale varies a lot: from topographic maps (1:10 000-1:200 000) to overview maps (at scales smaller than 1:200 000). One of the most important kinds of general geographic map is the topographic map.
Topographic map
A topographic map shows the topography of the land, meaning its shape, and the most important thing here is height above sea level, known as absolute elevation. In Polish this is abbreviated as “n.p.m.” (the English equivalent is “a.s.l.”, above sea level). Elevation on topographic maps is shown with isolines (isohypses), better known in English as contour lines. Polish, by the way, has two separate words for them, one used by surveyors and one by cartographers. They are lines on the map that join points of the same height above sea level.
Because of the relatively large amount of detail, a topographic map can look quite hard to read and interpret at first glance, especially if the terrain it shows varies a lot in shape and height.
To make sense of it easily, just remember one general rule: the closer together the contour lines, the steeper the slope. And the other way round: the further apart the contour lines, the gentler the slope.
A topographic map usually shows not only natural landforms but also all the important man-made features. These include, for example, buildings, drainage ditches, reservoirs, roads, railway lines, town names and any other important and distinctive landmarks.
Less common types of maps
Besides the most popular and most important types listed above, in various fields you will often come across other, less common types of maps.
They can be grouped according to all kinds of criteria and classifications, which differ not only in purpose and in how they show the terrain, but even depending on the country where the map was made.
Below are the most important of the remaining map types, each with a short description.
T-O map
One of the most classic maps, with roots going back to the early Middle Ages. It is the simplest form of the mappa mundi, which I describe at the end of this list. It shows the whole world as it was known at the time, surrounded on all sides by the waters of the ocean.
Noise map
A noise map shows a chosen area, usually a city, to identify quiet zones and zones with higher levels of noise from road traffic, railways and industry. In Poland, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants have to produce such maps every 5 years, and you will usually find them on your city council’s website. Such maps can be used when valuing property. In noisier areas, near railway lines for example, property prices may be lower than in quiet ones.
Bathymetric map
This map shows the depth and shape of the bottom of bodies of water, oceans included.
Road map
This is a map that focuses mainly on the network of roads for vehicle traffic in a given area, together with their local and international numbering.
Road maps often also show distances between towns, plus things that matter to someone on the move, a tourist for instance.
These may be motels, hostels and hotels, tourist attractions, car parks, petrol stations and so on. At the same time, the shape of the land is left out, and some topographic features, such as rivers or forests, are shown in a simplified, schematic way.
Geological map
A geological map, as the name suggests, shows geological information, usually in a heavily simplified form. Most often that is the age of the rocks, less often their type. Individual rocks are marked with contrasting colours according to an accepted convention.
Forest district management map
This is a 1:5000 scale map made and used for forest management in Poland’s forest districts (the local units of the State Forests). It lets you determine the area and condition of the forest, its boundaries, markers, compartment numbers, roads and so on.
Forest overview map
This 1:25 000 map is based on a topographic map and on the management map. It is in turn used to produce other important forestry maps:
- tree stand overview maps,
- overview maps of felling and unforested areas,
- habitat overview maps,
- forest protection maps,
- fire protection maps,
- tourist infrastructure maps,
- planning maps for road networks, drainage, stream regulation and general construction.
Mining map
A mining map can show one of the important aspects of extracting raw materials: the extent of a deposit, the workings, or the geology of the deposits.
Hypsometric map
This is one of the general geographic maps. It uses contour lines and colours to show the shape of the land. On a hypsometric map you can easily pick out all kinds of raised landforms, such as mountains and uplands, as well as lowlands and hollows, including valleys and basins. The hypsometric map is considered the best one for learning geography.
Postcode map
A postcode map shows a country or another region (Poland, for example) divided into areas or places that share the same postcode.
Railway map
A map of railway infrastructure showing its parameters, such as maximum speed, electrification, track gauge, number of tracks and line category. It can also show infrastructure such as level crossings, tunnels and so on. Some railway maps also show historic and planned lines.
Hachure map
Hachuring (also called hatching) used to be a way of showing mountain slopes on maps; it is no longer used for that purpose today. By varying the direction of the hachures, as well as the thickness and pattern of the lines, you can get a range of graphic effects.
This approach made it possible to cut the cost of producing a map, because it did not have to be printed in several colours. Colours on a hachure map can be replaced with a suitably arranged pattern of lines. With skilful hatching you can even show three-dimensional objects.
Aeronautical chart
An aeronautical chart is used to navigate aeroplanes and other aircraft correctly (aircraft is the general term for anything that flies: aeroplanes, helicopters, gliders or balloons). A pilot’s solid command of map reading is one of the basic conditions of a safe flight.
Most aeronautical charts (including ICAO standard charts at 1:500 000) use the Lambert conformal conic projection. As in the Mercator projection, angles are preserved, which makes it possible to navigate by compass, and on top of that a straight line on such a chart is close to the shortest route between two points.
Nautical chart
A nautical chart is used mainly for safe navigation at sea. It is a graphic picture of the sea surface, with the coastline, currents and tides, the depth and shape of the seabed, harbours and bridges.
Just as with an aeronautical chart, the ability to use the chart without mistakes is a condition of safe and reliable navigation. As on most navigational charts, the Mercator projection is used here.
Star map
This map shows the starry sky on a flat surface. It is one of the oldest types of map: already in ancient times, Ptolemy’s star catalogue listed more than a thousand stars in 48 constellations.
Stars on a star map are shown with symbols that depend on how bright they are. The coordinate grid drawn on the map is used to determine the astronomical coordinates of celestial bodies, that is, their declination and right ascension.
For technical reasons, the scale on a star map is given in angular units.
Digital map
The digital map, a map in electronic form, has revolutionised cartography and related fields. Google Maps is a good example. Digital maps have many clear advantages over analogue ones.
They can be updated on the fly. Their scale is adjustable, so you can zoom in or out on the area you are looking at, as needed, increasing or reducing the level of detail. Thanks to progress and the miniaturisation of electronics, very large map collections fit on relatively small storage devices.
The downside of digital maps is that you need a suitable device, with power, to read them, whereas a paper map needs no extra equipment at all.
Digital maps in vector form do not lose quality when you change the scale (raster maps, such as scanned paper maps or orthophotomaps, become blurry when zoomed in a lot).
Relief model
A relief model is a three-dimensional representation of an area, usually a mountainous one. Maps like this were already being made several hundred years ago, and most of them were carved.
Once painted, such a carved relief map often became a work of art.
Today relief models are often made by casting, on CNC milling machines and, more recently, with 3D printers.
Unlike two-dimensional maps, a relief model has two scales: a horizontal one and a vertical one.
Weather map
A weather map, also known as a synoptic chart, shows the current weather over a chosen area. The data used to draw and update it comes from synoptic weather stations. Synoptic charts make it possible to forecast the weather (with a certain probability).
Overview map
An overview map usually shows large areas, often whole countries or even continents. It is drawn at a scale smaller than 1:200 000, so it is usually a medium- or small-scale map.
Time zone map
A time zone map shows, as the name says, how the world is divided into time zones.
Earthquake map
An earthquake map shows data gathered by seismic stations, with earthquakes split into those caused by volcanic activity and those caused by movements of tectonic plates.
Tourist map
Tourist maps are made with leisure in mind. They contain plenty of information that matters for typical tourist activities: general geographic and topographic information, plus distinctive landmarks and places worth visiting for sightseeing and fun.
Key elements of every tourist map are the marked trails, places to stay and estimated walking times between attractions.
South-up map
A rather unusual type of map is the south-up map. Its main feature is that the top and bottom are flipped, so the South Pole is at the top and the North Pole at the bottom.
Historically, south-up maps were used fairly often (Arabic maps, for example), and in medieval Europe maps were usually drawn with east at the top. The astronomer Ptolemy (2nd century AD) did put north at the top, but north-up only became the universal convention in the 15th-16th centuries, when his Geography was rediscovered and sailors were already using the compass.
If you would like to learn more about geographical directions and how to find north in the field, have a look at my article on the subject: the cardinal directions.
Multi-scale map
It usually shows a small area at several different scales, so you can look at the terrain with varying degrees of accuracy and detail. Most digital maps are multi-scale maps, letting you change the scale smoothly by zooming in and out.
Base map of Poland (mapa zasadnicza)
The mapa zasadnicza, also called the basic national map, is a large-scale (1:500-1:5000) official surveying and mapping product that covers the entire territory of Poland. Since 31 July 2021 it has been kept in digital form only.
It is the reference model for other maps and is used for land registry, economic, planning and strategic purposes. Other maps are drawn up on its basis for commercial uses, such as design work or construction.
Mappa mundi
Mappa mundi literally means “cloth of the world”, since the Latin word mappa meant a cloth or napkin. It is one of the earliest maps, made in the early Middle Ages, and shows the whole outline of the world as it was then known, surrounded by the sea.
A mappa mundi was usually oriented with east at the top, and in many maps from the 12th-14th centuries Jerusalem was at its centre. The picture and the shapes on this map were heavily distorted.
Which map should you take into the field?
You now know the main types of maps. On a trail, in the woods or in the mountains, though, you will mostly need a tourist map, a topographic map and their digital versions on your phone. The first thing to look at when choosing one is the scale.
For mountain hiking, and anywhere every path matters, the best scale is 1:25 000. Every centimetre on the map is 250 metres on the ground. For longer walks and for cycling, 1:50 000 is enough, which means 500 metres per centimetre: you see less detail, but a whole region fits on one sheet. Both fall within the range of topographic maps mentioned above. In Poland, most tourist maps (those of the Beskids, for example) are published at 1:50 000, while the more detailed ones, such as maps of the Tatras, come at 1:25 000-1:30 000. Cycling maps are often even less detailed (1:75 000 or even 1:100 000).
On a map with contour lines, first check the legend for the contour interval, that is, the difference in height between one line and the next. It varies from map to map. Then remember the rule from the section on topographic maps: the closer together the contour lines, the steeper the slope. Where contour lines bend with the bulge pointing downhill, you are looking at a ridge; where the bulge points uphill, it is a valley, usually with water running down it.
A map on your phone is convenient, but it depends on the battery. GPS works without a mobile signal, as long as you have downloaded the map to your phone beforehand (offline mode). In the cold, however, the battery drains faster, so keep the phone in an inside pocket close to your body and take a power bank. Rain, wet gloves and numb fingers do not make a touchscreen any easier to use either.
That is why on longer trips you should carry a paper map and a compass as a backup. They need no power and will not die on you at the worst possible moment. That is, as long as you know how to use them, so practise calmly before you actually need to.
A paper map has an enemy of its own: water. A soaked map quickly becomes unreadable and tears along the folds. Put it in a waterproof map case or an ordinary zip-lock bag. You can also buy a laminated or waterproof edition straight away, as some tourist maps are sold in that form too.
One last thing: check the year of publication. Publishers print it on the cover or in the imprint. Trails get rerouted, new roads are built, and an old map can lead you down a path that no longer exists.
Final word
The map types described above are only some of those out there, and my choice for this article was fairly subjective. The truth is that there are a great many map types, and a huge variety of ways to classify them.
I hope, though, that this article has shed a bit of light on the subject and that you now know a little more about the different kinds and types of maps.
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