View source for World map

{{short description|Map of most or all of the surface of the Earth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{About|maps of Earth}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
[[File:Winkel triple projection SW.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A world map on the [[Winkel tripel projection]],<br>a low-error map projection<ref>''[http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~goldberg/projections/goldberg_gott.pdf Large-Scale Distortions in Map Projections] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216075805/http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~goldberg/projections/goldberg_gott.pdf |date=16 February 2016 }}'', 2007,  David M. Goldberg & [[J. Richard Gott]] III, 2007, V42 N4.</ref> adopted by the [[National Geographic Society]] for reference maps]]
[[File:Blue Marble 2002.png|300px|thumb|NASA's [[The Blue Marble#Subsequent Blue Marble images|Blue Marble Next Generation]], a composite of cloud-free satellite images]]
A '''world map''' is a [[map]] of most or all of the surface of [[Earth]]. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of [[map projection|projection]]. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of the Earth. While this is true of any map, these distortions reach extremes in a world map. Many techniques have been developed to present world maps that address diverse technical and aesthetic goals.<ref name="ACA1988">
{{cite book
| title = Choosing a World Map
| author = American Cartographic Association's Committee on Map Projections
| year = 1988
| location = Falls Church
| publisher = American Congress on Surveying and Mapping
| pages = 1–2
}}</ref>

Charting a world map requires global knowledge of the Earth, its oceans, and its continents. From prehistory through the [[Middle Ages]], creating an accurate world map would have been impossible because less than half of Earth's coastlines and only a small fraction of its continental interiors were known to any culture. With exploration that began during the European [[Renaissance]], knowledge of the Earth's surface accumulated rapidly, such that most of the world's coastlines had been mapped, at least roughly, by the mid-1700s and the continental interiors by the twentieth century.

Maps of the world generally focus either on political features or on physical features. Political maps emphasize territorial boundaries and human settlement. Physical maps show [[geography|geographical]] features such as mountains, soil type, or [[land use]]. [[Geological map]]s show not only the surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, [[Geologic fault|fault]] lines, and subsurface structures. [[Choropleth map]]s use color hue and intensity to contrast differences between regions, such as demographic or economic statistics.

==Map projections==
{{further|Map projection}}
{{see also|List of map projections}}
All world maps are based on one of several map projections, or methods of representing a [[globe]] on a plane. All projections distort geographic features, distances, and directions in some way. The various map projections that have been developed provide different ways of balancing accuracy and the unavoidable distortion inherent in making world maps.

Perhaps the best-known projection is the [[Mercator Projection]], originally designed as a [[nautical chart]].
<gallery class="center" widths="175px">
File:Mercator projection SW.jpg|[[Mercator projection]]<br>(showing between 82°S and 82°N)
File:Mollweide projection SW.jpg|[[Mollweide projection]]
Image:Cahill Butterfly Map.jpg|[[B.J.S. Cahill Butterfly Map, 1909, from 1919 pamphlet]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: Image:Waterman_Butterfly_Map_1996.jpg|[[Waterman butterfly projection|Waterman Butterfly Map, 1996]] -->
File:Azimuthal equidistant projection SW.jpg|[[Geographical pole|Polar]] azimuthal equidistant projection
Image:Blank-map-world-south-up.png|A [[reversed map|south-up map]]
Image:BlankMap-World-162E.svg|[[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]-centric map<br>(more commonly used in [[East Asia]]n and [[Oceania]] countries)
File:Gall–Peters projection SW.jpg|[[Gall–Peters projection]], an equal-area map projection
File:Robinson projection SW.jpg|[[Robinson projection]], formerly used by [[National Geographic Society]]
</gallery>

==Thematic maps==
{{Further|Thematic map}}
A [[thematic map]] shows geographical information about one or a few focused subjects. These maps "can portray physical, social, political, cultural, economic, sociological, agricultural, or any other aspects of a city, state, region, nation, or continent".<ref>[http://www.lib.washington.edu/maps/MapResources/thematic2.html Thematic Maps] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907213951/http://www.lib.washington.edu/maps/MapResources/thematic2.html |date=7 September 2012 }} Map Collection & Cartographic Information Services Unit. University Library, University of Washington. Accessed 27 December 2009.</ref>
<gallery class="center" widths="175px" perrow="5">
Image:Köppen-vereinfacht.svg|[[Template:Clickable world map|Clickable world map]]<br>(with climate classification)
Image:World Map (political).svg|A simple political map of the world
File:Physical World Map.svg|A simple physical map of the world
Image:World map.png|[[Topographical]] map of the world
File:GNI per capita growth 2024 World.svg|[[List of countries by GNI per capita growth|Countries by GNI per capita growth]]
File:2016 UN Human Development Report.svg|United Nations [[Human Development Index]] by country as of 2016
File:Life Expectancy 2008 Estimates CIA World Factbook.png|World map showing [[life expectancy]]
File:Population density map of the world.svg|Population density<br>(people per km<sup>2</sup>) by country
Image:Volcano Map.png|Volcano map
File:Laurasia-Gondwana.svg|World map showing the continents circa 200 million years ago ([[Triassic period]])
File:BlackMarble20161km.jpg|[[Satellite imagery|Satellite image]] of Earth at night
</gallery>

==Historical maps==
{{Further|Early world maps}}
[[Early world maps]] cover depictions of the [[world]] from the [[Iron Age]] to the [[Age of Discovery]] and the emergence of modern [[geography]] during the [[early modern period]]. Old maps provide information about places that were known in past times, as well as the philosophical and cultural basis of the map, which were often much different from modern cartography. Maps are one means by which scientists distribute their ideas and pass them on to [[future generations]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/map/h_map/h_map.htm|title=History of maps and cartography|work=emporia.edu|access-date=17 October 2007|archive-date=9 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709084524/http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/map/h_map/h_map.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
<gallery class="center" widths="175">
File:Anaximander world map (mul).svg|Hypothetical reconstruction of the world map of [[Anaximander]] (610–546 BC)
File:Sphendoné,_hoc_est,_Funda_Posidonii.jpg|World map according to [[Posidonius]] (150–130 BC),<br>drawn in 1628
File:Radkarte MKL1888.png|Ideal reconstruction of medieval [[T and O map|T-and-O maps]] (from ''Meyers Konversationslexikon'', 1895)<br>(Asia shown on the right)
File:TabulaRogeriana.jpg|{{Lang|la|[[Tabula Rogeriana]]}} world map by [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] in 1154<br>north is to the bottom
File:Cantino planisphere (1502).jpg|''[[Cantino planisphere]]'': Portuguese world map from 1502
File:Leonardo da Vinci’s Mappamundi.jpg|World map in [[Octant projection]] (1514), from Leonardo da Vinci's Windsor papers
File:Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, by Abraham Ortelius, World, 1572.jpg|The world, [[Abraham Ortelius]]'s ''[[Theatrum Orbis Terrarum|Typus Orbis Terrarum]]'', first published in 1564
File:Mercator 1569.png|World map by [[Gerardus Mercator]] (1569), first map in the well-known [[Mercator projection]]
File:Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (坤輿萬國全圖).jpg|alt=|''[[Kunyu Wanguo Quantu]]''  ([[Ming dynasty]], 1602)
File:Claes Janszoon Visscher - Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula Autore'.jpg|1652 world map<br>by [[Claes Jansz. Visscher|Claes Janszoon Visscher]]
File:World Map 1689.JPG|A historical map of the world by [[Gerard van Schagen]], 1689 
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Maps|Geography|World}}
{{Commons}}
{{Commons category||Category:Maps of the world}}
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Wikipedia's [[Template:Clickable world map|clickable world map]]
* [[Global Map]] – a set of digital maps developed by National Geospatial Information Authorities (NGIAs) in the world
* [[Globe]] – spherical models of Earth
* [[International Map of the World]] – an international project in the 20th century
* [[List of map projections]]
* [[List of world map changes]]
* [[Mappa mundi]] – medieval European maps of the world
* [[Rhumbline network]] – navigational aid drawn on maps
* [[Theorema Egregium]] – a geometric theorem
* [[Time zone]]{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Evelyn Edson|Edson, Evelyn]] (2011). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dK-TTLbCw78C&q=world+map ''The World Map, 1300–1492: The Persistence of Tradition and Transformation'']. JHU Press. {{ISBN|1421404303}}
* Harvey, P. D. A. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bxuAAAAAMAAJ ''The Hereford world map: medieval world maps and their context'']. British Library. {{ISBN|0712347607}}

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[[Category:World maps| ]]