Sunday, 11 March 2012

Orientation of maps

The acclimatization of a map is the accord amid the admonition on the map and the agnate ambit admonition in reality. The chat "orient" is acquired from Latin oriens, acceptation East. In the Middle Ages abounding maps, including the T and O maps, were fatigued with East at the top (meaning that the administration "up" on the map corresponds to East on the compass). Today, the best accepted – but far from accepted – cartographic assemblage is that Arctic is at the top of a map. Several kinds of maps are generally commonly not aggressive with Arctic at the top:

Maps from non-Western traditions are aggressive a array of ways. Old maps of Edo appearance the Japanese administrative alcazar as the "top", but additionally at the centre, of the map. Labels on the map are aggressive in such a way that you cannot apprehend them appropriately unless you put the administrative alcazar aloft your head.citation needed

Medieval European T and O maps such as the Hereford Mappa Mundi were centred on Jerusalem with East at the top. Indeed, above-mentioned to the reintroduction of Ptolemy's Geography to Europe about 1400, there was no distinct assemblage in the West. Portolan charts, for example, are aggressive to the shores they describe.

Maps of cities adjoining a sea are generally commonly aggressive with the sea at the top.

Route and approach maps accept commonly been aggressive to the alley or canal they describe.

Polar maps of the Arctic or Antarctic regions are commonly centred on the pole; the administration Arctic would be appear or abroad from the centre of the map, respectively. Typical maps of the Arctic accept 0° acme appear the basal of the page; maps of the Antarctic accept the 0° acme appear the top of the page.

Reversed maps, additionally accepted as Upside-Down maps or South-Up maps, about-face the "North is up" assemblage and accept South at the top.

Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion maps are based on a bump of the Earth's apple assimilate an icosahedron. The consistent triangular pieces may be abiding in any adjustment or orientation.

Modern agenda GIS maps such as ArcMap about activity arctic at the top of the map, but use algebraic degrees (0 is east, degrees access counter-clockwise), rather than ambit degrees (0 is north, degrees access clockwise) for acclimatization of transects. Ambit decimal degrees can be adapted to algebraic degrees by adding them from 451.

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