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 unsuspected 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 classes of maps, going beyond the simple classification that distinguishes between the electronic map and the physical one.

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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 instead only political territories and their limits appear: borders. In them appear States or regions with a certain sovereignty and self-government. Regardless of the scale of what is to be represented, be it a region or a supranational 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, the borders become represented with dashed lines, a representation resource that is often also used to mark the borders of territorial waters from a country.

Of course, as in a political map there are mainly theoretical constructs, to make one it is necessary that they exist certain consensus on the limits of each political entity represented.

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2. Geographic map

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 the 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 zenith perspective if we were to adopt a perspective of space looking at it from a very high point. You try to achieve a good level of realism.

On the other hand, the size of what you want to represent can vary a lot, going from the entire land 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 kinds of landforms.

4. Geological map

This type of map can be similar to the topological one, since it represents natural elements, but in this case it is not places so much emphasis on the relief and the shape of the earth's surface, and the type of minerals that make up 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 of 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 a picture of both what is on the surface and what is underground.

5. Climate map

In this case, it is about highlighting the climatic differences between regions. This is done by coloring in a homogeneous way each area that shares the same type of climate, sometimes creating overlap zones (in which various colors are mixed using fine stripe patterns.

6. Urban map

Urban maps emphasize the elements of urbanized areas, that is, human-made constructions and roads. communication for pedestrians and vehicles, to the point that in many cases nothing more than that appears, except for natural elements such as coasts and rivers.

Thus, normally in them only 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 town, parks, beaches, etc.

7. Transit map

This is a variation of the urban map in which the layout of the public transport routes of a city is represented almost exclusively, in a very simplified way. The routes of buses, trains, metro networks, and trams they are represented with colored lines, and the stations are marked for the main means of transport.

8. Meteorological map

This is the support used to show what are or will be the meteorological phenomena in each region, being represented with symbols that represent rain, storm, cloudy, etc. Due, the representation of the territory is usually simple, created just so that each region can be easily recognized without the need to include more non-weather related information, something that would visually saturate the image.

Bibliographic references:

• Cosgrove D. AND. (ed.) (1999). Mappings. London: Reaktion Books.
• O'Connor, J.J. and E.F. Robertson (2002). The History of Cartography. St. Andrews: St. Andrews University.