Maps are instruments for representing reality. This means that they reproduce a certain area of space so that we can locate ourselves in that location, know where it is or obtain different information about it.
Imagine, for example, that you are in front of a small dog. So, you decide to draw it, trying to reproduce, with maximum detail, the puppy's characteristics, such as color, size, appearance, etc. Your design will thus be a representation of this dog and, thus, whoever looks at the drawing will have at least an idea of what the pet is like.
With maps it happens more or less the same way. The difference is that there is a ratio between a real area and its representation in map form. This proportion is called scale. It allows huge areas (or even the whole world) to fit inside a piece of paper!
The entire world can be represented in just one image!
Let's assume the map scale is 1:3000. This means that for every 1 centimeter of the map, we have 3000 centimeters of real space, which is the same as 30 meters. Remember that each map has its own scale and it usually appears in the corner of the map in question. Click here to learn how to read a map!
Maps have, as we said, many functions. They can help us find a street, an address or help us think of the best way to travel from one address to another. In other cases, they can provide us with information, such as the distribution of population in a given country or the size of cities in a state, among countless other possibilities. The maps, therefore, have a large importance.
Would you like to make a map? So how about starting somewhere you are used to, like the way from your house to school or the supermarket? Take a sheet of paper and try to draw it, imagining you are seeing everything from the sky. Surely, over time, you will become more used to maps and will be able to use them to go anywhere!
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena