Concept in Definition ABC

The mapping is the discipline who studies maps. This discipline presents a wide range of options, since in the maps it is possible to enter information about geographical features, infrastructure of transport, municipalities and regions, political borders and, ultimately, any information that is related to geographic space.

Analyzing the concept with an illustrative example

The cartogram is a specific modality within cartography and consists of representing a territory indicating proportionally the values ​​of a given matter. Thus, in a cartogram on the population world would appear the size of each country in proportion to the number of its inhabitants. This map could be represented with rectangles to refer to each country and to have a guide on the scale of the map would specify complementary information in which a rectangle with a specific area it would correspond to a number of millions of inhabitants.

If we analyze the example mentioned, several conclusions can be drawn:

1) despite the fact that Russia is the largest country in the world, in the cartogram its size would be much smaller than the real one because the number of its inhabitants is not very high,

2) the largest countries would be China and India, since both are the most populated in the world and

3) the cartogram as a whole would present an image that does not correspond to the one that appears on a conventional world map.

A tool to communicate ideas

The images that appear in the cartograms connect with a very widespread phenomenon: the predominance of the visual over the written information. In this sense, the information provided in this type of map is much more direct and simple than that which could be expressed in a text or in a statistical table.

On the other hand, cartograms facilitate comparisons between data. Obviously, they serve to complement the explanations of a text with representative images.

Different modalities

The contiguous cartogram is one in which the represented geographic area appears distorted but compact. For example, in a cartogram on the density of the population in Latin America, all the countries are represented together, but their size depends on the density of each country.

The cartogram without contiguity is one in which the image of a territory is divided into parts and these are colored to indicate specific information. For example, in a cartogram of the countries of the European Union according to their railways, the nations would be separated and in each one of them the specific data of kilometers of railways would be indicated.

Finally, the Dorling cartogram uses geometric figures to represent geographic areas.

Photo: Fotolia - Monika