Physical world map (2004) with country borders and capitals

A world map is a map of the surface of the Earth, which may be made using any of a number of different map projections. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 406 pixel Image in higher resolution (3599 × 1826 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 406 pixel Image in higher resolution (3599 × 1826 pixel, file size: 1. ... For other uses, see Map (disambiguation). ... Earth is the third planet from the Sun. ... The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. ...

Maps of the world are often either 'political' or 'physical'. The most important purpose of the political map is to show territorial borders; the purpose of the physical map is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use. Geological maps show not only the physical surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface structures. Geologic faults, fault lines or simply faults are planar rock fractures, which show evidence of relative movement. ...

Projections

A Winkel Tripel projection, argued by Goldberg & Gott as the best overall whole-earth map projection known,^[1] and the standard projection for world maps made by the National Geographic Society.

Main article: Map projection

Maps that depict the surface of the Earth use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional real surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator Projection, originally designed as a form of nautical chart. A Winkel Tripel projection of the Earth Winkels Tripel projection was developed to show a map of the round Earth on flat paper with minimal distortion. ... J. Richard Gott is a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University John Richard Gott III is especially well known for developing and advocating two cosmological theories with the flavour of science fiction: Time travel, and the Doomsday argument. ... This article is about the organization. ... The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. ... The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. ... The GOCE project will measure high-accuracy gravity gradients and provide an accurate geoid model based on the Earths gravity field. ... Mercator world map Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate (1569) The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, in 1569. ... A 1976 United States NOAA chart of part of Puerto Rico A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. ...

Airplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the section of the earth to be mapped. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are chosen as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plot a great circle (shortest distance) route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart. A Lambert conformal conic projection (LCC) is a conic map projection, which is often used for aeronautical charts. ... For the Brisbane bus routes known collectively as the Great Circle Line (598 & 599), see the following list of Brisbane Transport routes A great circle on a sphere A great circle is a circle on the surface of a sphere that has the same diameter as the sphere, dividing the...

Variations

Different from the world map used in Western Hemisphere, in East Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Korea, along with in Australia and New Zealand, another map is used which places American continents on the right, Europe and Africa on the left, and Asia-Pacific countries roughly on the centre. The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... This article is about the geographical region. ... This article is about the Korean civilization. ...

Gallery

B.J.S. Cahill Butterfly Map, 1909, from 1919 pamphlet Image File history File links Size of this preview: 396 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (563 × 851 pixels, file size: 96 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Scanned by Gene Keyes from cover of 1919 pamphlet by Bernard J.S. Cahill, The Butterfly Map, 8 p. ... B.J.S. Cahill (Bernard Joseph Stanislaus Cahill, 1866-1944), cartographer and architect; inventor of the octahedral Butterfly Map (published 1909; patented 1913); early proponent of the San Francisco Civic Center (1899-1909); designer of the Columbarium of San Francisco. ...	Waterman Butterfly Map, 1996 Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 568 pixelsFull resolution (1800 × 1279 pixel, file size: 379 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, Steve Waterman, created this image of the Waterman Butterfly Map. ...	Dymaxion projection Image File history File links this image may be subsituted by this other bigger one Description An unfolded dymaxion map displaying near-contiguous land masses. ... The Dymaxion Map of the Earth is a projection of a global map onto the surface of a three-dimensional regular solid, which can then be unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the relative proportional integrity...	Elevation map Image File history File links Download high resolution version (4320x2160, 1907 KB) Summary Global land and undersea elevation. ... Elevation histogram of the surface of the Earth – approximately 71% of the Earths surface is covered with water. ...
Mercator projection Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1500x1043, 418 KB) Description: World in Mercator projection Source: Kober-Kümmerly+Frey Media AG Date: 21. ... Mercator world map Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate (1569) The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, in 1569. ...	Topographical map of the world Download high resolution version (1709x1550, 1773 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Topography, a term in geography, has come to refer to the lay of the land, or the physiogeographic characteristics of land in terms of elevation, slope, and orientation. ...	A reversed map, challenging the tradition of north as "up" Image File history File links Reverse_projection. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...	A blank political map of the world Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 23 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
World map according to Posidonius (150-130 B.C.) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	A World map produced in Amsterdam 1689 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 695 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (4560 × 3936 pixel, file size: 19. ...	A simple political map of the World as of 2003 Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	Present day Earth altimetry and bathymetry (Mollweide projection) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 561 pixel Image in higher resolution (1617 × 1133 pixel, file size: 1. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... For other uses, see Terrain (journal). ... Bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to topography. ... Example of a Mollweide projection. ...

See also

Atlas Portal

• European Digital Archive on Soil Maps of the World
• Ancient world maps
• List of World Map changes
• Mappa mundi
• Time zone

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 23 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... European Digital Archive on Soil Maps (EuDASM) is a digital inventory of the maps holding valuable information pertaining to soil that are highly demanded in various environmental assessment studies focusing on policy issues. ... Ancient world maps cover depictions of the world from Classical times to the Age of Discovery and the emergence of modern Geography. ... The Hereford Mappa Mundi, about 1300, Hereford Cathedral, England. ... Timezone and TimeZone redirect here. ...

Projections

• Albers projection
• Azimuthal conformal projection: see Stereographic projection
• Azimuthal equidistant projection
• Behrmann projection
• Bonne projection
• Bottomley projection
• Cahill octahedral Butterfly projection: see Bernard J.S. Cahill
• Craig retroazimuthal projection
• Dymaxion projection
• Equirectangular projection
• Gall-Peters projection
• Gnomonic projection
• Goode homolosine projection
• Hammer projection
• Hobo-Dyer projection
• Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection
• Lambert conformal conic projection
• Lambert cylindrical equal-area projection
• Littrow projection
• Mercator projection
• Miller cylindrical projection
• Mollweide projection
• Peters projection
• Plate carrée projection
• Polyconic projection
• Robinson projection
• Sinusoidal projection
• Stereographic projection
• Transverse Mercator projection
• Waterman "Butterfly" World Map Projection
• Werner projection
• Winkel Tripel projection

Map of the Earth using an Albers projection The Albers equal-area conic projection, or Albers projection, is a conic, equal area map projection that uses two standard parallels. ... Stereographic projection of a circle of radius R onto the x axis. ... This projection shows all distances and directions correctly from a single point. ... Map of the Earth using a Behrmann projection The Behrmann Projection is a cylindrical map projection. ... A Bonne projection A Bonne projection is a pseudoconical equal-area map projection, sometimes called a dépôt de la guerre or a Sylvanus projection. ... A Bottomley projection A Bottomley projection is an equal-area map projection. ... B.J.S. Cahill (Bernard Joseph Stanislaus Cahill, 1866-1944), cartographer and architect; inventor of the octahedral Butterfly Map (published 1909; patented 1913); early proponent of the San Francisco Civic Center (1899-1909); designer of the Columbarium of San Francisco. ... The Craig retroazimuthal map projection was created by James Ireland Craig in 1909. ... Unfolded Dymaxion map with nearly-contiguous land masses. ... In cartography, the equirectangular projection is a modification of the plate carrée projection, with the longitude lines (meridians) spaced closer together, forming rectangles with the latitude lines (parallels) instead of squares. ... Gall-Peters projection of the Earth The Gall-Peters projection is one specialization of a configurable equal-area map projection known as the equal-area cylindric or cylindrical equal-area projection. ... Gnomonic projections are used in seismic work because seismic waves tend to travel along great circles. ... Goode homolosine projection The Goode homolosine projection is an interrupted, pseudocylindrical, equal-area, composite map projection. ... A Hammer projection of the Earth The Hammer projection is an equal-area map projection, described by Ernst Hammer in 1892. ... The Hobo-Dyer map projection is an equal area map projection. ... Map of the Earth using a Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection The Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection, or Lambert azimuthal projection, is an equal-area map projection. ... A Lambert conformal conic projection (LCC) is a conic map projection, which is often used for aeronautical charts. ... Map of the Earth using a Lambert Cylindrical projection The Lambert cylindrical equal-area projection, or Lambert cylindrical projection, is a cylindrical, equal area map projection. ... The Littrow projection is the only conformal retroazimuthal map projection. ... Mercator world map Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate (1569) The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, in 1569. ... A Miller cylindrical projection maps the globe onto a cylinder. ... Example of a Mollweide projection. ... Peters map The Peters World Map or Gall-Peters projection is an orthographic equal-area map projection of the earth. ... Equirectangular projection of the Globe Equirectangular projection of a composite satellite image (NASA) The plate carrée projection or geographic projection or equirectangular projection, is a very simple map projection that has been in use since the earliest days of spherical cartography. ... Map of the Earth using a polyconic projection A polyconic projection is a conical map projection. ... Robinson projection map (Large 2 MB). ... Sinusoidal projection A sinusoidal projection is a pseudocylindrical equal-area map projection, sometimes called the Sanson-Flamsteed or the Mercator equal-area projection. ... Stereographic projection of a circle of radius R onto the x axis. ... // Transverse Mercator Projection A Transverse Mercator projection A Transverse Mercator projection is an adaptation of the Mercator projection. ... Waterman Butterfly Map, largest online image The Waterman Butterfly World Map Projection was created by Steve Waterman and published in 1996. ... Werner projection The Werner projection is a pseudoconical equal-area map projection, sometimes called the Stabius-Werner or the Stab-Werner projection. ... A Winkel Tripel projection of the Earth Winkels Tripel projection was developed to show a map of the round Earth on flat paper with minimal distortion. ...

References

1. ^ Large-Scale Distortions in Map Projections, 2007, David M. Goldberg & J. Richard Gott III, 2007, V42 N4.

J. Richard Gott is a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University John Richard Gott III is especially well known for developing and advocating two cosmological theories with the flavour of science fiction: Time travel, and the Doomsday argument. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Maps of the world

• World map at WikiMapia
• World maps from the CIA World Factbook
• An interactive JAVA applet to study deformations (area, distance, angle) of world maps
• A small collection of world maps viewed from a reversed perspective
• Large world maps
• Free PDF Outline Maps
• United Nations Map Library
• University of Texas Map Collection
• Interactive world-wide map including country sub-divisions
• Java world map allowing different projections and orientations
• (European Digital Archive on the Soil Maps of the World - EuDASM)
• B.J.S. Cahill's Butterfly Map and Beyond: A Comparative Gallery of Octahedral World Maps
• Fascinating selection of world maps at ODT Maps
• Brief History of Maps and Cartography

459 // WikiMapia is an online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information (in the form of a note) to any location on Earth. ...