Drawing maps

Drawing maps

The art of drawing maps is known as cartography. A person skilled in drawing maps is called a cartographer. A map can be drawn on a

1. piece of paper,
2. board,
3. cloth and
4. other plane surfaces.

Different ways are used to draw maps. Example include

1. drawing by hand using simple tools such as a pencil, paper, ruler, and rubber and
2. drawing by computer software.

However, map drawing depends on the size and use of the map in question. The size of the map depends on the area and the details to be represented on it. Its size is determined by the scale, which is the ratio between the distance on the map and the actual distance on the ground. There are three types of maps according to their scales. These are as follows:

1. A small-scale map: A small-scale map is used to represent large areas with few details, such as countries, continents, and the world. Its scale ranges from 1:500,000 to 1:1,000,000.
2. A medium-scale map: A medium-scale map is used to represent areas which are neither too large nor too small, such as towns, districts, and regions. This scale ranges from 1:50,000 to 1:125,000.
3. A large-scale map: A large-scale map represents small areas. Large-scale maps can represent playing grounds, farms/estates, and buildings. The larger the scale, the more the details it provides. The large scale map ranges from 1:10,000 to 1:25,000

Expressing map scales

Map scales are expressed in the following three ways:

1. As a statement: In this scale, if the actual distance on the ground is five kilometres and that distance is drawn in a length of five centimetres on the map, the presentation here will be as follows: Five centimetres on the map represent five kilometres on the ground, or one centimetre on the map represents one kilometre on the ground. This scale is shown in a statement form as "One centimetre for one kilometre."
2. As a Representative Fraction (RF) or ratio: The scale can be presented either as a ratio or as a fraction such as 1:50,000 and 1/50,000, whereby 1 is the numerator and 50,000 is the denominator. This means that 1 unit on the map represents 50,000 units on the ground. These units can be any units of measurements such as centimetres, metres, and kilometres. The unit of measurement used on the map must be similar to the one used on the ground. Therefore, the numerator and denominator should use the same unit of measurement. For example, 1 cm on the map represents 100,000 cm on the ground. If one centimetre on the map represents one kilometre on the ground, then the kilometre should be changed into centimetres. 1 kilometre = 1,000 metres 1 metre = 100 centimetres Therefore, 1 kilometre = 100 centimetres × 1,000 = 100,000 centimetres By using the ratio method, this scale will be presented as follows: 1:100,000 By using the fraction method, the scale will be presented as follows: 1/100,000. Thus, 1:100,000 and 1/100,000 mean that one centimetre on the map represents one hundred thousand centimetres on the actual ground.
3. As a linear scale: This scale is presented using a graduated line, which is divided into two parts: secondary and primary. The secondary parts are placed on the left-hand side from zero in the linear scale, divided into small portions and written in metres (m) to represent the ground distance less than a kilometre. The primary parts, which are placed on the right-hand side from zero in the linear scale, are in kilometres (km) to represent the actual ground distance. Figure 1 shows a linear scale.

Linear scale