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Geography is a discipline in which the use of different types of maps is essential in order to study the characteristics of the geography of the Earth and its regions. Some maps are so common that a child could easily recognize them, while others are only used by professionals in specialized fields. This article will show some of the most common types of maps: political, physical, topographic, climate, economic, and thematic maps.
Map Types
political maps
These types of maps focus on describing the borders of states and countries in a region, including the location of large and small cities, depending on the level of detail on the map.
An example of a political map would be the map of South America, with the countries that make it up and their borders, the capitals of the countries and the most important cities, as can be seen in the following figure.
physical maps
A physical map is one that documents the landscape features of a region. Physical maps show mountains and plains, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Bodies of water are commonly described in the color blue; mountains and elevation changes are shown with different colors and shades to show that elevation exists. Shades of green typically indicate lower elevations, while shades of brown indicate higher elevations.
An example of a physical map might cover the entire Earth or a specific region. The meaning of the colors on the map must be defined in each case or specify the general criteria adopted.
topographic maps
A topographic map is similar to a physical map in that it also shows the different features of a landscape. Unlike physical maps, however, topographic maps use contour lines instead of colors to show changes in the landscape; in particular, to show changes in terrain elevation. Contour lines on topographic maps are drawn at certain altitude levels, spaced at regular intervals. For example, each line might represent an elevation change of 100 meters. When the contour lines are close together, that means the terrain is steep.
climate maps
A climate map shows information about the climate of an area. These maps can show aspects such as the spatial distribution of the average annual temperature, the distribution of the average snowfall or the number of cloudy days in an annual average. Climate maps use colors to represent climate zones. The lower map shows the spatial distribution of the average annual temperature of Mexico.
Economic or natural resource maps
An economic or natural resource map depicts various specific aspects of economic activity in a region by using different symbols or colors, depending on what you want to represent. For example, colors can be used to describe the different agricultural products of a region, letters for natural resources, and specific symbols for the industries installed there. The figure below shows the industrial areas of Spain, indicating with a color code the level of development and the level of associated employment.
road maps
Road maps are perhaps the most widely used. These maps show highways and major and minor roads, country roads and routes, depending on the level of detail on the map, as well as airports, refueling points, services, cities and places of interest such as parks, campgrounds and monuments. Major roads on a road map can be marked with thick red lines, while minor roads are indicated in a lighter shade of color and with thinner lines.
thematic maps
A thematic map is a map that focuses on describing data for a specific topic. They usually display, for example, statistical data of a region, such as changes in the composition of a population according to the results of a population census.
Fountain
Menno-Jan Kraak et al. Mapping for a Sustainable World International Cartographic Association, 2021.
