Maps! All you ever needed to know about why maps are important to Human Geography

 No two maps are ever the same, however cartographers use certain tools to assist them in creating maps.  These tools make it possible for the average person to interpret locations such as countries, cities, natural boundaries etc. Geographic Tools

 Grids are the answer to how we organize information on a map.  The geographic grid is a man-made system of invisible lines that span the globe. This grid has been used for over 2,000 years as a globally accepted reference for finding the location of a fixed position on Earth.  The North and South Poles, lines of Latitude, lines of Longitude, Parallels, the Equator, Meridians, the Prime Meridian, and the International Date Line are all examples of grid patterns. Grids

 The northernmost point on the earth's surface is the geographic North Pole, also known as true north. It's located at 90° North latitude and all lines of longitude converge at the pole. The earth's axis connects the north and south poles, as it’s the line around which the earth rotates.  The South Pole is the southernmost point on the Earth's surface. It is at 90˚S latitude and it is on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole. The South Pole is located in Antarctica. North and South Poles

 The angular distance, measured north or south from the equator, of a point on the earth's surface, expressed in degrees. Lines of Latitude

 Angular distance east or west on the earth's surface, as measured, in degrees, from the meridian of some particular place to the prime meridian at Greenwich, England. Lines of Longitude

 Parallels are imaginary lines extending around the Earth parallel to the equator; it is used to indicate latitude. The 38th parallel, for example, has a latitude of 38° N or 38° S. Parallels

 The imaginary great circle around the earth's surface, equidistant from the poles and perpendicular to the earth's axis of rotation. It divides the earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. The Equator

 A circle of constant longitude passing through a given place on the earth's surface and the terrestrial poles. Also known as lines of longitude, they run from North to South. Meridian

 The prime meridian is the line of 0 degrees longitude, the starting point for measuring distance both east and west around the Earth. The prime meridian separates the eastern hemisphere from the western hemisphere. There is an international agreement that the meridian that runs through Greenwich, England, is considered the official prime meridian.  The Prime Meridian is used to define Universal Time and is the meridian from which all other time zones are calculated. Prime Meridian

 The Greenwich Meridian, also known as the prime meridian or International Meridian, bisects the primary division of time zones. Each time zone is 15 degrees of longitude in width, with local variations, and observes a clock time one hour earlier than the zone immediately to the east.  A time Zone generally refers to any of the 24 regions on the Earth’s surface loosely divided by longitude in which standard time is kept. Time Zones

 The International Date Line (IDL), is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth that runs from the north to the south pole and demarcates one calendar day from the next. It passes through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180 longitude but it deviates to pass around some territories and island groups. The IDL is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Prime Meridian. The International Date Line

 A map represents a portion of the earth's surface. Since an accurate map represents the land, each map has a "scale" which indicates the relationship between a certain distance on the map and the distance on the ground. The map scale is usually located in the legend box of a map, which explains the symbols and provides other important information about the map. A map scale can be printed in a variety of ways. Map Scale

 Commonly known as a GPS  A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers. Global Positioning System

 Commonly known as a GIS  A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data. Geographic Information System

 The technique of obtaining information about objects through the analysis of data collected by special instruments that are not in physical contact with the objects of investigation. Commonly known as the “look but don’t touch” method, information is typically gathered by satellite images. Remote Sensing

 The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map. Projection

 Refers to the shapes of areas; the distances between places; the relative size of different areas; the direction from one place to another Distortion

 Now that you know the common ways to organize maps, let’s take a look at several different types of maps.  But first, let’s define what a map is. Types of maps

 A map is used to give a visual representation of a certain area and are commonly use to give direction on which way to travel. Geographical maps show territorial boundaries and contours and may also give orientation. Maps may be used to represent any space, real or imagined, without regard to context or scale. Maps

 Invented by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator for ships navigating across the Atlantic Ocean in The map is meant for direction. However, the projection distorts sizes of areas, particularly as you get closer to the North and South poles Mercator Projection

 A map that curves inward to fix the distortion of the Mercator, but makes the landmasses look smaller than they really are. It is an attempt to balance all distortions by making errors in all 4 directions. As a result, it is a good projection for general use. Robinson Projection

 Introduced in 1974 by Arno Peters, and focuses on keeping landmasses equal in area. As a result, the shapes are distorted, and the map looks unfamiliar to viewers. Peters Projection

 A thematic map is a map that emphasizes a particular theme or special topic such as the average distribution of rainfall in an area. They are different from general reference maps because they do not just show natural features like rivers, cities, political subdivisions and highways. Instead, if these items are on a thematic map, they are simply used as reference points to enhance one's understanding of the map's theme and purpose. Normally however, all thematic maps use maps with coastlines, city locations and political boundaries as their base maps. The map's specific theme is then layered onto this base map via different mapping programs and technologies like a GIS. Thematic

 A special type of map in which the variation in quantity of a factor such as rainfall, population, or crops in a geographic area is indicated; a dot map is one type. Statistical

 A "map" that is a diagram used to present statistical information. A common cartogram shows the countries of the world where the size of the country varies with respect to its population.  For example, a cartogram of world population by country shows a very large China and India but you can hardly see Canada and Australia. Cartogram

 A dot map uses a dot to represent the number of a phenomenon found within the boundaries of a geographic area. In addition, the cartographer usually attempts to show the pattern of distribution within the area by placing the dots where the phenomenon is most likely to occur. Dot

 A map that uses differences in shading, coloring, or the placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate the average values of a property or quantity in those areas. Choropleth

 An isoline map is a map with continuous lines joining points of the same value. Examples would be equal altitude (contour lines), temperature (isotherms), barometric pressure (isobars), wind speed (isotachs), wind direction (isogon), wind shear (isoshear), etc. Isoline mapping is used to interpret the information on some thematic maps. Isoline