Another Word For Map Key

Map Fundamental Definition

A map primal is an inset on a map that explains the symbols, provides a scale, and usually identifies the type of map projection used. Technically, the key is part of the map legend. The key explains the symbols, while the legend holds the primal and other information.

Map key definition

Purpose Of A Map Key

The purpose of a map key is to tell you the pregnant of the symbols on a map. The key on a map interprets each symbol and then that you can read and understand the map.

For case, what does this symbol, ⇞, mean? Is it of import to know what it ways? Is it pointing in a management, standing for a unmarried tree, or indicating a woods?

Purpose of a map key

The map fundamental is the but way for yous to know for sure what the above symbol means.

Tabular array of Contents

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Definition
- Purpose
Symbols
Legend Vs. Central
Examples
Compass Rose

Map Key Symbols

When making a map, Cartographers (map makers) cannot write out everything and make it fit. They need quick, unproblematic drawings, called map symbols, to replace written information. If you lot do not know what $\cdot$ , $\circ$ , or $⊙$ ways, you cannot understand the map.

A map fundamental tells yous what all the symbols on the map mean. For instance, the small blackness dot, $\cdot$ , means a town or village, the open circumvolve, $\circ$ , means a city of at least 75,000 people, or that $⊙$ ways a state capital. A map key can tell yous that ★ commonly shows a country's capital.

Every map uses its own map symbols, depending on the data the cartographer wants to show. Map keys tin can show symbols for natural resources, population centers, bodies of water, types of industry, and much more than.

Map key symbols

Here are some dissimilar symbols appearing in map keys:

Types Of Map Symbols
Symbol	Meaning
$River Map Symbol$	River
$Railroad Tracks Map Symbol$	Railroad Tracks
$Food Map Symbol$	Food
$Bar Map Symbol$	Bar
$Cafe Map Symbol$	Cafe
$Shopping Map Symbol$	Shopping
$Grocery Map Symbol$	Grocery
$Arts Map Symbol$	Arts
$Lighthouse Map Symbol$	Lighthouse
$Theater Map Symbol$	Theater
$Tourist Attraction Map Symbol$	Tourist Attraction
$Casino Map Symbol$	Casino
$Aquarium Map Symbol$	Aquarium
$Event Venue Map Symbol$	Event Venue
$Amusement Park Map Symbol$	Amusement Park
$Historical Site Map Symbol$	Historical Site
$Museum Map Symbol$	Museum
$Movie Theater Map Symbol$	Moving-picture show Theater
$Monument Map Symbol$	Monument
$Music Map Symbol$	Music
$Relic Map Symbol$	Relic
$Gas Station Map Symbol$	Gas Station
$Parking Map Symbol$	Parking
$Car Rental Map Symbol$	Car Rental
$Hotel Map Symbol$	Hotel
$Resort Map Symbol$	Resort
$ATM Map Symbol$	ATM
$Bank Map Symbol$	Bank
$Hospital Map Symbol$	Infirmary
$Pharmacy Map Symbol$	Chemist's
$Medical Map Symbol$	Medical
$Park or Forrest Map Symbol$	Park / Wood
$Mountain Map Symbol$	Mountain
$Sports Stadium Map Symbol$	Sports Stadium
$Zoo Map Symbol$	Zoo
$Campground Map Symbol$	Campground
$Cemetary Map Symbol$	Cemetary
$Golf Course Map Symbol$	Golf Course
$Garden Map Symbol$	Garden
$Hiking Map Symbol$	Hiking
$Boating Map Symbol$	Canoeing
$Fishing Map Symbol$	Fishing
$Airport Map Symbol$	Airport
$Train Map Symbol$	Train
$Metro Map Symbol$	Metro
$Subway Map Symbol$	Subway
$Bus Map Symbol$	Bus
$Rail Map Symbol$	Rail
$Ferry Map Symbol$	Ferry
$Bridge Map Symbol$	Span
$Civic Building Map Symbol$	Civic Building
$Post Office Map Symbol$	Mail Office
$Library Map Symbol$	Library
$Police Station Map Symbol$	Police force Station
$School Map Symbol$	Schoolhouse
$Restroom Map Symbol$	Restroom / Bathroom
$Miscellaneous Map Symbol$	Miscellaneous
$Church or Temple Map Symbol$	Church building or Temple
$Synagogue Map Symbol$	Synagogue

As you run across in this list of Google Maps symbols above, different colors represent unlike categories. Green for outdoors, orange for dining and drinks, etc.

Map Key Examples

This map of Tennessee has a key that shows how the land is used. Tiny symbols that expect similar pigs, plants, and stones show where animals are raised for food, where plants are grown, and where ores and rocks are mined.

Map key example animals and food

This map key uses natural colors for natural formations but uses abstract shapes for human activity. It uses coded squares to evidence ruins and archeological sites. It uses circles to stand for villages and towns. The natural formations such every bit ice and desert are shown in colors that resemble the real things.

Map key example

Legend Vs. Key

You may wonder what the divergence is betwixt a map fundamental and a map legend. The key makes the map understandable. The map legend usually includes non only the map primal to the symbols but a lot of other useful information:

Map calibration, in large units like miles and kilometers, or small units like feet and meters
Map projection proper name, like Mercator, Cassini, Equirectangular, Gauss–Krüger, or Sinusoidal
Map publication date
Cartographer or company proper name

Today we use both phrases to mean the aforementioned thing, simply the map key is technically found in the map legend.

Compass Rose On A Map

The compass on a map is chosen a compass rose. Its main role is to point north, but it almost e'er shows the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and due west). Sometimes it tells the intermediate or ordinal directions, too: northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest.

Compass rose on a map

Unlike all the other symbols on the map, the compass rose does non usually appear in the fundamental or legend. Information technology is usually drawn in an unimportant surface area, like an bounding main or vast desert, and then that it does not cover locations. By tradition, most maps orient then that north is at the top of the map.

On maps and nautical charts dealing with tides, sailing, and coastlines, the compass rose is likewise called a "windrose" or "rose of the winds." Highly authentic nautical charts and some topological maps show both true north and magnetic n on the compass rose.