DISTANCE AND DIRECTION IN MAPS

 Distance ...

Maps are drawings, which reduce the entire world or a

part of it to fit on a sheet of paper. Or we can say maps

are drawn to reduced scales. But this reduction is done

very carefully so that the distance between the places

is real. It can only be possible when a small distance

on paper represents a large distance on the ground.

Therefore, a scale is chosen for this purpose. Scale is

the ratio between the actual distance on the ground

and the distance shown on the map. For example, the

distance between your school and your home is 10

km. If you show this 10 km. distance by 2 cm on a

map, it means, 1 cm on the map will show 5 km. on

the ground. The scale of your drawing will be 1cm = 5

km. Thus, scale is very important in any map. If you

know the scale, you will be able to calculate the

distance between any two places on a map.

When large areas like continents or countries are

to be shown on a paper, then we use a small scale. For

example 5 cm. on the map shows 500 km. of the

ground. It is called a small scale map.

When a small area like your village or town is to be

shown on paper, then we use a large scale that is 5

cm. on the map shows 500 metres only on the ground.

It is called a large scale map.

Large scale maps give more information than small

scale maps.

Direction...

Most maps contain an arrow marked with the letter

‘N’ at the upper right hand corner. This arrow shows

the north direction. It is called the north line. When

you know the north, you can find out other directions,

for example east, west and south. There are four major

directions, North, South, East and West

They are called cardinal points. Other four

intermediate directions are north-east (NE), southeast(

SE), south-west (SW) and north-west (NW). We

can locate any place more accurately with the help of

these intermediate directions.