Editing Map (section)

{{Short description|Symbolic depiction of spatial relationships}}
{{Other uses|Map (disambiguation)|Maps (disambiguation)|Mapping (disambiguation){{!}}Mapping}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}

[[File:Physical World Map.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Physical map of Earth]]
[[File:World Map (political).svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Political map of Earth]]

A '''map''' is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a [[space]]. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on a transitory medium such as a computer screen. Some maps change interactively. Although maps are commonly used to depict [[geography|geographic elements]], they may represent any space, real or fictional. The subject being mapped may be two-dimensional such as Earth's surface, three-dimensional such as Earth's interior, or from an abstract space of any dimension.

Maps of geographic territory have a very long tradition and have existed from ancient times. The word "map" comes from the {{Langx|la|Mappa mundi|label=[[Latin|medieval Latin]]}}, wherein ''mappa'' meant 'napkin' or 'cloth' and ''mundi'' 'of the world'. Thus, "map" became a shortened term referring to a flat representation of Earth's surface.