The 8 Main Types Of Maps, And Their Characteristics
The different types of maps that exist They account for the complexity of the territorial organization of human beings and the regions we inhabit. These elements related to cartography can take the most unexpected forms, depending on the criteria that have been used to design them.
In the next few lines we will see a summary of the different types of maps, going beyond the simple classification that distinguishes between the electronic map and the physical map.
The main types of maps (and what each one shows us)
Here is a classification of the most popular types of maps.
1. Political map
This is one of the types of map in which physical elements are not represented, but rather only political territories and their limits appear: the borders In them appear States or regions with a certain sovereignty and self-government. Regardless of the scale of what is to be represented, whether a region or a suprastate organization, emphasis is placed on the notions of “inside” and “outside.”
In cases where there is a territorial conflict that creates discrepancies between many parties involved, borders are represented with broken lines, a representation resource that is often also used to mark the edges of a country’s territorial waters.
Of course, since mainly theoretical constructs appear on a political map, to create one it is necessary that there exist certain consensuses on the limits of each political entity represented
Being probably one of the most used types of maps, it tries to give the information considered most relevant in most cases with regard to physical elements of a territory, including scale representations of natural or human-built surfaces.
Normally, what you see on one of these maps is what you would see from a top-down perspective if we adopted a perspective of space seeing it from a very high point. An attempt is made to achieve a good level of realism.
On the other hand, the size of what is to be represented can vary greatly, ranging from the entire earth’s surface to the area occupied by a single municipality
3. Topographic map
This type of map is characterized by highlighting the differences in height (expressed in contour lines) and in general the relief of the earth’s surface It is also common to use coloring patterns to mark the space occupied by different types of geographical features.
4. Geological map
This type of map can be similar to the topological one, since it represents natural elements, but in this case so much emphasis is not placed on the relief and the shape of the Earth’s surface, and more is emphasized on the type of minerals that make up the map. the land. The latter is expressed many times using icons as symbols for different minerals and natural formations such as springs, volcanoes, special mineral veins, and the like.
Thus, the variations in the territory that appear have to do with the characteristics of the distribution of minerals and the shape of the tectonic plates. In general, it is about giving an image of both what is on the surface and what is underground.
In this case, it is about highlighting the climatic differences between regions. This is done by homogeneously coloring each area that shares the same type of climate, sometimes creating areas of overlap (in which several colors are mixed using fine stripe patterns.
6. Urban map
Urban maps emphasize the elements typical of urbanized areas, that is, buildings made by humans and communication routes for pedestrians and vehicles, to the point that in many cases nothing more than that appears, except natural elements such as coasts and rivers.
Thus, normally they only represent the space occupied by a city, district or neighborhood, all to scale. The type of graphic elements used for this are usually simple and minimalist in style, in most cases using only polygons.
Sometimes color changes are used to indicate the presence of different types of spaces: old center, parks, beaches, etc.
7. Transit map
This is a variation of the urban map in which the layout of a city’s public transport routes is almost exclusively represented, in a very simplified way. The routes of buses, trains, metro networks, and trams They are represented with colored lines, and stations are marked for the main means of transportation.
8. Weather map
This is the support used to show what the weather phenomena are or are going to be in each region, being represented with symbols that represent rain, storm, cloudy, etc. Due, the representation of the territory is usually simple created only so that each region can be easily recognized without the need to include more information not related to meteorology, something that would visually saturate the image.
