O map-world or world map is a cartographic representation that shows the globe in its entirety.
It brings together the emerging parts such as continents, islands, countries, states and cities (usually capitals) and the great bodies of salt water: the oceans and seas of the world.
Remember that planet Earth is a sphere and the poles (north and south) are slightly flat.
World map representation
imaginary lines
The world map presents some imaginary lines that make it easier to find the geographic coordinates of the terrestrial globe. The main imaginary lines are:
World map with the main imaginary lines
- equator line: which divides the world horizontally into two hemispheres: north (northern) and south (southern).
- Tropic of Cancer: crosses the globe horizontally and is located above the equator in the northern hemisphere.
- Tropic of Capricorn: cuts the globe horizontally and is located below the equator in the southern hemisphere.
- Arctic Circle: located in the extreme north of the world (north pole), countries above this line have a subarctic climate.
- Antarctic Polar Circle: imaginary line that passes through the extreme south of the world (south pole) on the continent of Antarctica. There, there is no presence of inhabitants.
continents of the world
The world is formed by 6 continents, to know:
- Asia
- America (divided into: North America, Central America and South America)
- Africa
- Antarctica
- Europe
- Oceania
Oceans of the World
five oceans are part of the world map, namely:
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Arctic glacial ocean
- Antarctic Glacial Ocean
Countries of the world
According to the UN (United Nations), the world is made up of 193 countries. Thus, it does not recognize Taiwan, the Vatican and Palestine that are in the category of “observer states”.
In such a way, to be considered a country, it has to unite characteristics such as national sovereignty, well-defined borders and even a currency.
However, there are world entities that present other numbers in relation to the number of countries that exist in the world. The International Olympic Committee establishes 206 countries, and FIFA, 209.
Check out the countries on each continent below:
- Asia has 47 countries and 3 territories of national sovereignty
- America has 35 countries and 20 territories of national sovereignty
- Africa has 54 countries and 4 territories of national sovereignty
- Europe has 43 countries and 10 territories of national sovereignty
- Oceania has 14 countries and 11 territories of national sovereignty
Note: Despite being considered a continent, Antarctica does not contain any countries.
know more:
- Asian countries
- North American countries
- Central American countries
- South American countries
- African countries
- European countries
- Oceania countries
World Map Representations
There are several ways to represent the world map (and still others) called cartographic projections.
The world map was not always represented as we know it today. The first world map that is known dates from VII a. C., made of clay and found in the region of Babylon.
Certainly the discoveries evolved and from the 16th century onwards it was approaching the way we know it. See below the main known cartographic projections:
- Mercator projection
- Peters projection
- Robinson's projection
- Mollweide Projection
- Behrmann projection
- Albers projection
- Polar Equidistant Azimuthal Projection
- Holzel Projection
- Van Der Grinten projection
- Goode's Discontinuous Projection
- Sinusoidal Projection
Read too:
- What is Cartography?
- Brazil's map
- Thematic Maps
- continents
