Types of Maps

We depend on maps all the time, to guide us and help us reach our destination. The GPRS system is gaining popularity and myriads of people are depending on this system to find their way around. Even in malls we depend on the map of the mall provided to find the store we want (especially the food court!).

Maps are ingenious inventions of man, without which we would have had to spend scores of hours locating places and wasting precious time by getting lost. All this time wastage can be avoided today by referring to maps and obeying the instructions with respect to the direction given on it. Maps are actually representations of the Earth's surface that depicts where what is located on the earth and the respective distance from one place to another. It gives you a bird's-eye view of places, distances, direction and size. Moreover, what's best is that these maps are sheets of paper that can be rolled and carried around wherever you go. There are different types of maps suited for various needs.

Different Kinds of Maps and Their Uses

Climate Maps or Weather Maps
Not all maps are used to find places, locate landmarks and streets, instead there are weather maps as well that help weather forecast. They are depictions of weather patterns prevalent in particular areas. The information presented on these climate maps can be jotted down and used for various purposes. These maps actually map factors such as temperature, precipitation, seasonal variations and various geographical features that help distinguish the several climate zones (arid, equatorial, warm-temperature, snow and polar). The data on these maps keep constantly changing due to changing climatic conditions. To attain this climate information, various data fields such as satellite images, radar, etc. are used, which are then combined to form one picture that can be printed out or viewed digitally.

Physical Maps
These maps are special maps depicting physical characteristics of a place, for example, it denotes the various landforms like mountain ranges, valleys, deserts, plains, etc. and water bodies like rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, etc. The elevations of mountain ranges are shown by the various lines, shading patterns, spots, tints, etc. in different colors on the maps. Blue color is used to depict the water.

Political maps
Political maps are maps we are all familiar with. These maps represent the different nations across the globe along with the state divisions, their capitals and important cities. Thanks to these maps we can learn more about nations and their cities.

Economic or Resource Maps
These are the maps that are used to represent the economic resources or natural resource wealth of a particular region across the globe. Symbols are used on the map to denote a particular resource. For example, the presence of oranges on the map tells us that Florida is rich in oranges, whereas, the presence of wheat on the map quickly tells us that wheat is grown in abundance in Maryland. Other resources like coal, petroleum, oil, metals, etc. also have their respective symbols that tell us where they are found in abundance. Thus, at one glance, one can find out the resources of different places.

Road maps
This is another type of map we are all familiar with. Going for a holiday by road and not taking a map is like going to the Alps in your summer clothes. In fact road maps also help us find places in our own city. Road maps represent street directions to places across the city. This road to road direction helps us find our way really easily.

Topographic maps
Some of us have had the privilege of learning how to read these maps at school itself. These maps feature contour lines that denote shape and elevation of a particular region. This means if the region houses steep terrain, the lines will be close to each other, while flat terrain is denoted by lines separated by a larger distance. These maps are very important for construction and road work. Moreover, even geologists use the help of these maps to collect data and record types of rocks.

The different types of maps play a vital role in our lives, although we seldom note their value. Those of us who have got lost in places and have been salvaged by a map know how important this piece of information is. Maps guide us to our final destination and will continue guiding the coming generations!