A map is a picture of the Earth’s surface reduced onto paper. Trade, military campaigns and long journeys made people draw maps. In the 3rd century BCE the Greek scholar Eratosthenes calculated the size of the Earth and drew a map of the world; in the 2nd century CE Ptolemy made a famous map too. Our own scholars Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, Abu Rayhan Beruni and Mahmud Kashgari also made important maps for their times. “Globus” is Latin for “ball”; a globe is a small spherical model of the Earth. Beruni described how to make a globe and is credited with making one; in 1492 the German geographer Martin Behaim made the globe called the “Earth Apple”. A political map shows countries, borders and capitals, while a thematic map shows a historical event or period. A political-administrative map shows the parts of a country (regions, districts): Uzbekistan has the Republic of Karakalpakstan, 12 regions and the city of Tashkent.
Worked examples
A yard map: the house, garden and gate are drawn with symbols, with a scale such as 1 cm = 5 m. A yard 20 m long is 4 cm long on the map.
To show the borders of Amir Temur’s state around 1400 you need a thematic (historical) map; to find today’s countries and capitals you need a political map.
Class activity
“Classroom map”: groups draw a plan of the classroom (door, windows, desks) with symbols and add a key explaining the symbols.
Practice
1
What is a map and why is it needed?
A reduced picture of the Earth’s surface; for finding the way, trade, travel and studying history and geography.
2
What is the difference between a political map and a political-administrative map?
A political map shows countries, borders and capitals; a political-administrative map shows the regions and districts of one country.
3
A yard is 30 m long and the scale is 1 cm = 5 m. How long is it on the map in centimetres?
6
4
Why did trade and long journeys lead to the making of maps?
Merchants and travellers needed to know the road, distances and safe places in unfamiliar lands.