How to read a geographical map?

Looking at any map, the first thing is to be clear about the direction. Under normal circumstances, a map is up north and down south, so it is necessary to mark the true north direction in an appropriate position to facilitate reading the map.

Pay attention to the scale and you will know what the actual distance is.

See the legend. Legends correspond to real things.

Pay attention to the combination of surface, line and point. Lines can indicate the direction of roads, mountains and rivers. Points are villages, factories, industrial and mining areas, etc.

Pay attention to the color.

Look at the map in an orderly way.

In some topographic maps, different colors are used to represent different elevations. When you look at a map, you can know the elevation of each position in the map sheet according to the legend.

[Altitude is altitude. ]

Some topographic maps use contour lines to represent different elevations. When looking at a map, just find out the elevation marked by a contour line, and then press the height (also called vertical interval) between two contour lines on the map, where the terrain is steep; The thinner the place, the flatter the terrain.

[On the map, lines connecting points at the same altitude are contour lines. The denser the contour, the steeper the hillside; The thinner the contour, the slower the slope. On the contour topographic map, the protruding part of the contour line protrudes to the contour line with higher altitude, indicating the valley; On the contrary, the protruding part of the contour line protrudes to the contour line at a lower altitude, indicating the ridge. ]

Generally speaking, maps that indicate the geographical location of provinces and cities in administrative divisions will not indicate the altitude of each place (only some famous mountains often use a small black triangle to indicate the geographical location, and then use numbers to mark the height next to them).

When looking at a map, besides paying attention to the direction, you can also know how many meters (or kilometers) 1 cm (cm) on the map represents the actual distance. For example, a map with the scale of 1: (one in ten thousand) and a map with the scale of: (one in one million) indicate that the actual distance is meters (65438). The smaller the scale, the lower the accuracy (the smaller the error).

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