In map making, or Cartography, there are many different standard elements. These elements appear on almost all maps. Four common standard elements are:

1) Map Scale

2) Compass Rose

3) Map Legend

4) Map Grid

Map Scale:

The scale of a map is depends on the size of the map and the size of the area it shows. For example, the map of a very large area will only show a small amount of detail and is called a small scale map. A map showing a small area can show a large amount of detail and is called a large scale map.

Map scale can be shown in three ways:

1) Line Scale – a line showing what a distance on the map would be in the real world

2)Ratio Scale – a ratio scale shows what one unit of something on the map would be in the real world – 1:50,000 (1 cm = 50,000 cm)

3) Word Scale – words or a sentence describing what the distance on the map would be in the real world - One cm equals five km.

km’s

Compass Rose:

A compass rose on a map is used to show which way is North. On some maps there is 3 north arrows:

True North – Points to the North Pole

Magnetic North – Points to the Magnetic North Pole

Grid North – Straight up on the map

The directions on a compass can be read as degrees of a circle from 00 to 3600. 900 is east, 180 is south, 270 is west, while north is both 0 and 360. In between these measurements are other direction.

Map Legend:

In order to place information on a map and not overwhelm the user with information, we use symbols instead of pictures to label the features. These symbols are standardized across the world. For example, the symbol of a school is:

Some features like forests and water are shown by different colours of shading. All of these different features are labelled in the Legend. The Legend is a box somewhere on the map with all these symbols and is sometimes called the Key or Index.

Grid:

The grid on a map is a series of horizontal and vertical lines which are used to locate places on the map. The grid can be labelled with numbers, letters, or both. On some maps the lines are labelled and on some maps the spaces between are labelled.