Editing World map (section)

{{short description|Map of most or all of the surface of the Earth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{About|maps of Earth}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
[[File:Winkel triple projection SW.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A world map on the [[Winkel tripel projection]],<br>a low-error map projection<ref>''[http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~goldberg/projections/goldberg_gott.pdf Large-Scale Distortions in Map Projections] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216075805/http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~goldberg/projections/goldberg_gott.pdf |date=16 February 2016 }}'', 2007,  David M. Goldberg & [[J. Richard Gott]] III, 2007, V42 N4.</ref> adopted by the [[National Geographic Society]] for reference maps]]
[[File:Blue Marble 2002.png|300px|thumb|NASA's [[The Blue Marble#Subsequent Blue Marble images|Blue Marble Next Generation]], a composite of cloud-free satellite images]]
A '''world map''' is a [[map]] of most or all of the surface of [[Earth]]. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of [[map projection|projection]]. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of the Earth. While this is true of any map, these distortions reach extremes in a world map. Many techniques have been developed to present world maps that address diverse technical and aesthetic goals.<ref name="ACA1988">
{{cite book
| title = Choosing a World Map
| author = American Cartographic Association's Committee on Map Projections
| year = 1988
| location = Falls Church
| publisher = American Congress on Surveying and Mapping
| pages = 1–2
}}</ref>

Charting a world map requires global knowledge of the Earth, its oceans, and its continents. From prehistory through the [[Middle Ages]], creating an accurate world map would have been impossible because less than half of Earth's coastlines and only a small fraction of its continental interiors were known to any culture. With exploration that began during the European [[Renaissance]], knowledge of the Earth's surface accumulated rapidly, such that most of the world's coastlines had been mapped, at least roughly, by the mid-1700s and the continental interiors by the twentieth century.

Maps of the world generally focus either on political features or on physical features. Political maps emphasize territorial boundaries and human settlement. Physical maps show [[geography|geographical]] features such as mountains, soil type, or [[land use]]. [[Geological map]]s show not only the surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, [[Geologic fault|fault]] lines, and subsurface structures. [[Choropleth map]]s use color hue and intensity to contrast differences between regions, such as demographic or economic statistics.