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Ptolemy's map of the Mediterranean superimposed on a modern map, with Greenwich as the reference longitude. Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD, based his mapping system on estimated distances and directions reported by travellers. Until then, all maps had used a rectangular grid with latitude and longitude as straight lines intersecting at right ...
It included an index of place-names, with the latitude and longitude of each place to guide the search, scale, conventional signs with legends, and the practice of orienting maps so that north is at the top and east to the right of the map—an almost universal custom today.
The Greek Marinus of Tyre (CE 70–130) was the first to assign a latitude and longitude to every place on his maps. From the late 9th century CE, the Arabian Kamal was used in equatorial regions, to measure the height of Polaris above the horizon. This instrument could only be used in latitudes where Polaris is close to the horizon.
However, if the map is marked with an accurate and finely spaced latitude scale from which the latitude may be read directly—as is the case for the Mercator 1569 world map (sheets 3, 9, 15) and all subsequent nautical charts—the meridian distance between two latitudes φ 1 and φ 2 is simply
The De Virga world map was made by Albertinus de Virga between 1411 and 1415. Albertin de Virga, a Venetian, is also known for a 1409 map of the Mediterranean, also made in Venice. The world map is circular, drawn on a piece of parchment 69.6 cm × 44 cm (27.4 in × 17.3 in). It consists of the map itself, about 44 cm (17 in) in diameter, and ...
A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of the Earth. While this is true of any map, these distortions reach extremes in a world map.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 18 February 2025. System to specify locations on Earth For broader coverage of this topic, see Spatial reference system. Longitude lines are perpendicular to and latitude lines are parallel to the Equator. Geodesy Fundamentals Geodesy Geodynamics Geomatics History Concepts Geographical distance Geoid ...
The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84 , defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum , and also describes the associated Earth Gravitational Model (EGM) and World Magnetic Model (WMM).