map: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Nov. 11, 2026

News •

Live Results and Map: 2026 US Midterm Elections | Key Races to Watch • Nov. 3, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (Bloomberg.com)

California Fire Map: Track updates on fires across California • Oct. 31, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (San Francisco Chronicle)

Map Shows Nations Urging People to Stockpile Food as France Issues Warning • Oct. 28, 2026, 11:39 AM ET (Newsweek)

Map thief leads 'merry dance' with return promises • Oct. 22, 2026, 12:26 PM ET (BBC)

Voters in 39 States Face Big Decisions Beyond Congress. See the Map. • Oct. 21, 2026, 10:28 AM ET (U.S. News & World Report)

Photos and Videos

A detailed topographic map showing contour lines, a winding blue river, and elevation changes across a green and brown landscape.

Antique-style globe with sepia-toned map details and decorative illustrations, mounted on a black stand, sitting on a wooden surface.

Herodotus' map of the world

Ptolemy's world map

Open illuminated manuscript showing a woodcut world map from Claudius Ptolemy's Cosmographia, with landmasses outlined in color and surrounded by blue seas.

Open book showing a two-page woodcut world map from Claudius Ptolemy's Cosmographia, 1482, with blue oceans, labeled continents, and windhead figures around the border.

Hand-colored 1593 map by Gerard and Cornelis de Jode showing North America, including labeled regions such as Florida and Canada, with decorative illustrations and Latin text.

Open antique atlas showing a hand-colored 16th-century map of the Americas, titled Americae sive Novi Orbis nova descriptio, with decorative borders and illustrated ships.

Seventeenth-century black and white map of North America by Vincenzo Coronelli, featuring detailed coastlines, labeled regions, and an illustrated cartouche with cherubs in the upper left.

topographic map

Smiling white woman pointing up at a vintage map, superimposed with the text Africa and the Mercator map.

See All Videos, Images and Interactives →

Topics

photomap T and O rendering scale compass rose relief map gravity map International Map of the World geologic map world map Map of Germany GIS graph flowchart telecommunications media media ethics video editing mass media magnetic recording media convergence non-fungible token

Key People

Self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci drawn in red chalk, showing an elderly man with long hair and a flowing beard, with a serious, contemplative expression.

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian artist, engineer, and scientist

Aaron Arrowsmith, engraving by T.A. Dean after a portrait by H.W. Pickersgill

Aaron Arrowsmith

British geographer and cartographer

default image

John Adair

Scottish surveyor

Abraham Ortelius's map of the world from 1570.

Abraham Ortelius

Flemish cartographer

Bartholomew, John George

John George Bartholomew

Scottish cartographer and publisher

Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 world map

Martin Waldseemüller

German cartographer