Cartography is the creation, production, and study of maps. It is considered a subdiscipline of geography, the study of spatial distribution of various phenomena. Cartographers are often geographers who particularly enjoy the combination of art, science, and technology employed in the making and studying of maps.

A map is a generalized two-dimensional representation of the spatial distribution of one or more phenomena. For example, a map may show the location of cities, mountain ranges, and rivers, or may show the types of rock in a given region. Maps are flat, making their production, storage, and handling relatively easy. Maps present their information to the viewer at a reduced scale. They are smaller than the area they represent, using mathematical relationships to maintain proportionally accurate geographic relationships between various phenomena. Maps show the location of selected phenomena by using symbols that are identified in a legend.

There are many...