Editing Cartography (section)

==Map types==
{{See also|Map#Types}}

===General vs. thematic cartography===
[[File:Orienteringskort bygholm 2005 detail.jpg|thumb|Small section of an orienteering map]]
[[File:Easter Island map-en.svg|thumb|Topographic map of [[Easter Island]]]]
[[File:Maps-for-free Sierra Nevada.png|thumb|Relief map [[Sierra Nevada (Spain)|Sierra Nevada]]]]

In understanding basic maps, the field of cartography can be divided into two general categories: general cartography and thematic cartography. General cartography involves those maps that are constructed for a general audience and thus contain a variety of features. General maps exhibit many reference and location systems and often are produced in a series. For example, the 1:24,000 scale topographic maps of the [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS) are a standard as compared to the 1:50,000 scale Canadian maps. The government of the UK produces the classic 1:50,000 (replacing the older 1&nbsp;inch to 1 mile) "[[Ordnance Survey]]" maps of the entire UK and with a range of correlated larger- and smaller-scale maps of great detail. Many private mapping companies have also produced thematic map series.

[[Thematic map|Thematic cartography]] involves maps of specific geographic themes, oriented toward specific audiences. A couple of examples might be a [[Thematic map#Dot|dot map]] showing [[corn production]] in [[Indiana]] or a shaded area map of [[Ohio counties]], divided into numerical [[Choropleth map|choropleth]] classes. As the volume of geographic data has exploded over the last century, thematic cartography has become increasingly useful and necessary to interpret spatial, cultural and social data.

A third type of map is known as an "orienteering," or special purpose map. This type of map falls somewhere between thematic and general maps. They combine general map elements with thematic attributes in order to design a map with a specific audience in mind. Oftentimes, the type of audience an orienteering map is made for is in a particular industry or occupation. An example of this kind of map would be a municipal utility map.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog486/node/1848 |title=Cartography and Visualization Part I: Types of Maps |last=Dutton |first=John |website=[[Pennsylvania State University]] E-Education |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911104035/https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog486/node/1848 |archive-date=2018-09-11 }}</ref>

===Topographic vs. topological===
A [[topographic map]] is primarily concerned with the [[topography|topographic]] description of a place, including (especially in the 20th and 21st centuries) the use of [[contour line]]s showing elevation. [[Terrain]] or relief can be shown in a variety of ways (see [[Cartographic relief depiction]]). In the present era, one of the most widespread and advanced methods used to form topographic maps is to use computer software to generate [[digital elevation model]]s which show shaded relief. Before such software existed, cartographers had to draw shaded relief by hand. One cartographer who is respected as a master of hand-drawn shaded relief is the Swiss professor Eduard Imhof whose efforts in hill shading were so influential that his method became used around the world despite it being so labor-intensive.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kennelly |first=Patrick |s2cid=12196808 |date=2006 |title=A Uniform Sky Illumination Model to Enhance Shading of Terrain and Urban Areas |journal=[[Cartography and Geographic Information Science]] |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=21–36 |doi=10.1559/152304006777323118|bibcode=2006CGISc..33...21K }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://icaci.org/eduard-imhof-1895-1986/ |title=Eduard Imhof (1895–1986) |last=Ormeling |first=F.J. |date=1986-12-31 |website=International Cartographic Association |access-date=2018-07-27 |archive-date=2018-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052427/https://icaci.org/eduard-imhof-1895-1986/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A [[topological map]] is a very general type of map, the kind one might sketch on a napkin. It often disregards scale and detail in the interest of clarity of communicating specific route or relational information. [[Harry Beck|Beck's]] [[Tube map|London Underground map]] is an iconic example. Although the most widely used map of "The Tube," it preserves little of reality: it varies scale constantly and abruptly, it straightens curved tracks, and it contorts directions. The only topography on it is the [[River Thames]], letting the reader know whether a station is north or south of the river. That and the topology of station order and interchanges between train lines are all that is left of the geographic space.<ref name=Ovenden>{{cite book |last=Ovenden |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Ovenden |title=Transit Maps of the World |location=New York, New York |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-14-311265-5 |pages=22, 60, 131, 132, 135}}</ref> Yet those are all a typical passenger wishes to know, so the map fulfills its purpose.<ref>{{cite book |author=Devlin, Keith |title=The Millennium Problems |url=https://archive.org/details/millenniumproble00keit |url-access=registration |location=New York, New York |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/millenniumproble00keit/page/162 162–163] |isbn=978-0-465-01730-0}}</ref>