Introduction
There are many different types of maps, which are generally classified according to what
they are attempting to show.
One common point of view is that there are only two types of maps:
• those which summarise the landscape (topographic and general reference
maps); and
• those which describe/comment on the landscape (all other maps – usually
called thematic maps)
For ease of describing functionally quite different maps and to explain what can be confusing
differences we have opted to use a greater number of map types:
• General Reference (sometimes called planimetric maps),
• Topographic Maps,
• Thematic,
• Navigation Charts,
• Cadastral Maps and Plans