Note Book4

                                                  Physical Maps

Physical maps are designed to show the natural landscape features of Earth. They are best known for showing topography, either by colors or as shaded relief. Physical maps often have a green to brown to gray color scheme for showing the elevation of the land. Darker greens are used for near-sea-level elevations, with the color grading into tans and browns as elevations increase. The color gradient often terminates in shades of gray for the highest elevations.

Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans are usually shown in blue, often with a light blue color for the most shallow areas and darkening in a gradient or by intervals for areas of deeper water. Glaciers and ice caps are shown in white colors.

Physical maps usually show the most important political boundaries, such as state and country boundaries. Major cities and major roads are often shown. This cultural information is not the focus of a physical map, but it is often included for geographic reference and to increase the utility of the map for many users.

                                                     Political Maps

"Political maps" are among the most widely used reference maps. They are mounted on the walls of classrooms throughout the world. They show the geographic boundaries between governmental units such as countries, states, and counties. They show roads, cities and major water features such as oceans, rivers and lakes.

Political maps help people understand the geography of the world. They are usually the first type of map that students are introduced to in school. They are also known as "reference maps" because people refer to them again and again as they have questions.Political maps are often printed on paper or another physical medium, but they can also be produced in digital form, suitable for viewing online. Every day millions of people visit search engines to find political reference maps. Some of the most popular searches are for "united states map", "world map", "europe map", and "florida map".Thousands of different political reference maps have been prepared to show the current geography of the United States. There are maps of the entire nation, maps for each of the 50 states, maps of the 3142 counties (parishes in Louisiana, and boroughs in Alaska) that make up the states. Most counties, boroughs and parishes are further subdivided into even smaller political units. An incredible number of political maps have been prepared just to display the geography of the United States.The maps most commonly seen in classrooms and offices are political maps of the world, countries and continents. They are often annotated with push pins, sticky notes, photographs, marker flags and string to show the travels of a family, locations of a business, or other locations and activities worthy of display