Our world is awash with maps. For more than five hundred years,
surveyors and cartographers have been measuring and documenting the
surface of our planet, and they have accurately recorded their findings
graphically, on documents called "maps." We have maps of
airports, zoos, and just about everything in between.
In fact, maps and geographic information systems (GIS) have become
integral parts of our busy, modern-day lives. No one knows how
many maps are published each year, but the United States federal
government is the most prolific cartographer in the world. More
than 3 dozen federal agencies are involved in some aspect of map-making,
and the twelve largest map-making agencies distribute more than 160
million copies of their maps each year, at a cost of about half a billion
dollars! During the 1990s, the world's largest non-government
map-maker, Rand McNally, sold
up to 400 million maps per year, in the form of printed maps, atlases,
and globes. The 50-million member American Automobile Association (AAA) distributes over 50 million of
its state, regional, and local maps each year, and provides online maps
through its TripTik® service. Other map sources include state
and local tourism offices as well as oil companies and foreign
embassies. Around the world, there are many other map-makers,
who produce anywhere from a handful of maps to hundreds of maps each
year for general audiences or specific uses. In recent years, the
Internet has spawned a variety of online map services such as
MapQuest and
Google Maps.
It is safe to say that over a half-billion map copies are published per annum
in the USA, and the types of information being mapped are virtually limitless.
There are good reasons for our preoccupation with maps. If a
picture is worth a thousand words, then a map may be worth thousands of
words. A printed map, perhaps 3 to 6 square feet in size, can
contain thousands of pieces of information about a great number of
topics, making it an efficient medium for storing and presenting
information. But we use maps for more reasons than the data they
present. Some people simply enjoy reading maps. Others
find it fun and fascinating to curl up with a good map and get some
perspective on life — to figure out where they are, where they're
planning to go, or where they have been. For many, maps are
works of art, to frame and display on a wall. Some antique maps,
prized by collectors, truly are works of art, with price tags to
match.
The links on Map-Menu.com display maps of the continents and selected
countries on planet Earth, as well as relevant geographical information,
tourism highlights, and travel photos, to help our visitors better
understand the world they live in.
