Questions tagged [maps]

For questions relating to maps, incl. specific maps, how these were made, and their purpose.

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1 answer
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Map of Canada from about 1912? Or earlier?

I saw this map in a youtube video that was mainly about the life of a German inventor who relocated to Canada in 1912. That seems to hint that this is how a map of Canada looked at that time. It is ...
2 votes
0 answers
217 views

Is there any documented evidence that these three North American cities were named due to the locations of their namesakes?

Two years ago, I was studying an online atlas of the world and I happened to notice that there are three cities located in North America which have a geographical similarity with three cities located ...
13 votes
1 answer
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Was Goryeo part of the Mongol empire?

So I came to America from Korea a while ago and I decided to study a bit of history (because who doesn't like history?). While doing so, it kind of confused me that the extent of the Mongol empire ...
2 votes
3 answers
399 views

Where can I find a detailed map of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg as it existed in 1648?

Where online can I find a map of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg (aka the 'Rotenburger Quart') as it existed between 1648 (ie, after the Peace of Westphalia) and 1658 (when Hermann IV von Hessen-...
1 vote
3 answers
483 views

Roman Empire Netflix Map

Netflix's recent series, called "Roman Empire", has this miniature for the Portuguese language: We can recognise this as a map of the Roman Empire, especially during the early Principate ...
2 votes
1 answer
172 views

Who is 'Ebinichibel' mentioned in the Borgia Map?

Wikipedia:BorgiaMap page gives this detail, The Borgia map includes a legend referring to Ebinichibel, who is described as "the Saracen Ethiopian king with his dog-headed people". Is this ...
4 votes
1 answer
171 views

Where is this map of Scandinavia (Nicolaus Germanus, 1467)

Does anybody recognise this map? Is there a better version online? Update: the map was apparently printed in colour, and one version might be in Warsaw. Could also be available online, but have not ...
-2 votes
2 answers
293 views

Did 15th century Europeans not know about south-east Asia?

Columbus headed west across the Atlantic expecting to reach India, and initially thought that he had landed there. His latitude for India was correct, but even if his estimates of distance and the ...
14 votes
2 answers
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Why do some 17th and 18th century maps depict Ottoman sanjaks north of the Danube in Wallachia?

Note: I am editing this question constantly, because after posting it I have realized that there are more maps involving the same description, beside Homann's of 1720. (That doesn't mean that they are ...
9 votes
2 answers
404 views

Do maps dating back to 1489/90 show Ascension and St Helena even though these islands were supposedly only discovered in 1501 and 1502 respectively?

The 1504 Vesconte Maggiolo Map appears to be the first map to name and accurately locate the islands of St Helena and Ascension as single isloated islands. Ascension was shown in a similar location ...
7 votes
4 answers
810 views

When did inadequate or inaccurate maps produce important historical consequences?

For example, Christopher Columbus' sense of place in the New World was perhaps shaped by a c. 1491 map made by Henricus Martellus: (From: Did This Map Guide Columbus?) I'm interested in more ...
5 votes
1 answer
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Where can I find maps and other historical resources / references of Calcutta / Kolkata in the Victorian era?

I am doing some historical research on a project and need some maps, references on Calcutta in the Victorian Era, somewhere between the 1850's and 60's. Does anyone know some good sites / books where ...
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Map of/Measure of conflicted areas throughout history [closed]

I am looking for a map which would give an indication of how much territorial conflict there was in a given area. One way I imagined one could do it is to look at how territorial states (in the period ...
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Where can I find a map or list of 19th century European watermills?

I am looking for a map or list of 19. century watermills. I have found this Hungarian Wikipedia page, which contains many historical watermills, but only within the current or historic territory of ...
2 votes
0 answers
165 views

Are there visualisations of the Kerma state along with other Nile Valley civilizations?

Wikipedia describes the Kerma state as existing contemporaneously with Middle Kingdom Egypt, from approx 2500 BC to 1500 BC. Yet, the article on the Kerma doesn't illustrate the Kermanese (?) sphere ...
5 votes
3 answers
290 views

When did the Portuguese decide to extend their West African exploration to finding a sea passage to India?

In 1421, when the Portuguese began the southwards exploration of the West African coast under Prince Henry the Navigator, their primary aim (there were several) was to find the source of wealthy goods ...
34 votes
3 answers
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When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?

The Ptolemy map shows the Indian Ocean as an enclosed sea separated from the Atlantic by land extending from Africa to Malaya. Therefore, it suggests it is impossible to reach the Indian Ocean from ...
9 votes
3 answers
5k views

How to build historical maps?

Is there an online tool that allows one to create a historical map given a time period and region/country of interest? I have found this question, What are good online sources for historical maps?, ...
2 votes
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Have there been any lawsuits over gerrymandering outside the United States?

In countries that use first-past-the-post legislative elections, drawing district maps that have political effects is called Gerrymandering. It is famously seen as shameless but nearly impossible to ...
11 votes
1 answer
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Has Mohenjo-daro been reconstructed?

What is the extent of current knowledge on the physical structure of the city of Mohenjo Daro? Have all possible roads and buildings (possibly in 3D) been reconstructed? Do we completely know the ...
13 votes
1 answer
833 views

What is the earliest mention of an estimate of 71% water (or 70.8%) / 29% land (or 29.2%)?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey's article How much water is there on, in, and above the Earth?, About 71 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered Wikipedia's Earth article also ...
26 votes
6 answers
1k views

What are good online sources for historical maps?

I am looking for good online sources for historical maps, specifically the late medieval period (but other periods would be interesting as well). While there are many historical maps out there, few ...
-4 votes
2 answers
386 views

What was the purpose of each project site during the Manhattan Project?

I'm looking for an answer as to what the purpose of each project site was during the Manhattan Project. The following image illustrates (but only includes some of the sites) where each site was ...
4 votes
2 answers
290 views

Who was the first Renaissance cartographer to include rich content in their maps that went beyond spatial points, borders, and location names?

In other words, which Renaissance cartographer was the first to really enrich their maps with imagery or icons that indicated other attributes about the locations they were mapping, or the people who ...
10 votes
2 answers
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Can anyone explain why the Scottish flag on this map from 1504 has a red cross on a white background?

The section of the map below is from a nautical chart by the Portuguese cartographer Pedro Reinel (c.1462 – c.1542). On it, Scotland is shown with a red St. Andrew's Cross on a white background. Upon ...
44 votes
4 answers
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What is the logic for the map maker classifying the map this way, specifically in Canada?

I recently came across the map displayed above. It is a map showing the spread of totalitarian and authoritarian governments right before WWII. The countries that are black are totalitarian ...
4 votes
1 answer
353 views

Examples of ancient maps that gave names based on a cardinal direction

Years ago I read that civilizations had maps like that of the Herodotus, who was an ancient Greek historian. Said maps named lands or peoples according to cardinal directions, but without referring to ...
1 vote
1 answer
520 views

What area of Los Angeles does this historical map depict?

What area of Los Angeles does this historical map depict?
8 votes
1 answer
571 views

What are these items in this 16th century plan of an English town?

This plan or picture map of Great Yarmouth is from the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). According to the Norfolk Record Office (pdf), It shows the town’s defences at the time of the Spanish Armada ...
4 votes
1 answer
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How much (area) territory did Chinese dynasties control?

I am looking for the area of the territories controlled by the different Chinese dynasties since Zhou all the way to the Qing. There are maps available of the different territories but I haven't found ...
1 vote
1 answer
148 views

What were the divisions of the city of Paris between the 12th and 13th centuries?

What were the divisions (neighborhoods/districts) of the city of Paris during the medieval period? I know there is a division between left and right bank and Ilé de la cité, but I believe there should ...
9 votes
1 answer
323 views

How old is Philippe Buache's map of New Discoveries?

(See 6MB high-resolution version.) The University of Hawai'i at Manoa owns a copy of this map of the Pacific by Phillippe Buache. Its library record gives the date "Circa 1750"; I wonder if we can be ...
6 votes
1 answer
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Is there a population density map of pre-Columbian South America?

I have found such maps for North America, e.g. this one: But never for the southern continent. The goal is a broad overview. How many Lokono were there, compared to the Mapuche (and the Cree for that ...
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1 answer
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Is there any resource for showing world territories at different years?

I teaching a secondary class about a region where the borders were constantly shifting, government constantly changing hands, people within the area changing nationality several times, etc. which is ...
2 votes
1 answer
721 views

Did imperialist propaganda inflate map size?

I'm fairly certain I've seen this in the past and I highly doubt I'm making this up - I'm not sure whether it was of the British Empire or Japan's or maybe even some other nation - but I'm fairly ...
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

What was the first map of Antarctica having a shape based on real evidence?

Antarctica was the last continent to be discovered, and the first confirmed landfall was on January 24, 1895. However, most discussions of "early" world maps seem to peter out well before that, such ...
1 vote
0 answers
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Where can I find a map of Ice Age Berengia?

I need your help to find out more information about how to find map that is relate about Ice Age mammoth hunters who lived on Beringia, the ancient land bridge that inter-connected Alaska and Siberia ...
4 votes
2 answers
762 views

Where can I find a world map from the Victorian period?

I'm looking for a (preferably open-source) decently quality political map of the world from around 1890 (1885-1900 would be usable for what I want). I don't have a lot of experience looking for maps ...
7 votes
5 answers
1k views

How did 2nd century Romans decide where to build Hadrian's wall?

How did 2nd century Romans decide where to build Hadrian's wall? It is located exactly at the narrowest east-west section of the island. They had no laser theodolites, lenses, aerial observation ...
5 votes
1 answer
236 views

Where to get historical Finland railways map for 1939 year?

Where to get Finland railways map for 1939 year ? Just want to compare logistics possibilities during Winter War. It is map of USSR: http://soldat.ru/files/f/00000583.jpg
13 votes
2 answers
564 views

What is a "Schwedenschanze" on an 1830's map of Eastern Bavaria?

The modern translation by BING is Swedish ski jump or Swedish hill, depending on whether or not I insert a space, but this seems very unlikely in that time period. The structure is clearly man-made, ...
3 votes
2 answers
188 views

When was the use of detailed maps for military campaigns widely adopted?

I remember definitively, they were there during the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon himself was a part of one Bureau of Topography for a while. An auxiliary question, how did they ever get to survey lands ...
5 votes
1 answer
233 views

Have map projections and distortions ever affected treaties?

Has there ever been a case of an unfair treaty occur anytime through history due to use of biased map projections, either accidentally or deliberately?
4 votes
2 answers
599 views

Where was Canterbury College (Oxford) located?

I hope this is on-topic. I am reading about former Oxford University colleges. For many their historic location in the city is well documented. I just came across one however which is unclear. It is ...
2 votes
1 answer
362 views

Can the Cassini maps of France be found online?

I am looking for online versions of the Cassini maps (i.e. "the first general maps of the territory using a measuring apparatus were made by the Cassini family during the 18th century" from https://en....
25 votes
4 answers
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How was the modern geographic boundary between Europe and Asia decided?

Wikipedia puts the boundary as: The modern definition of Europe delimits it from Asia at the Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles-Sea of Marmora-Bosporus, the Black Sea, along the watershed of the Greater ...
7 votes
1 answer
678 views

How were ethnographic maps in the 19th century made?

Ethnographic maps are visual representations of the ethnic make up of particular regions. Usually multicultural regions which are controlled by an empire. Here are some examples of ethnographic maps:...
18 votes
2 answers
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Is There A Term For The Old Maps That Had Lines Connecting Pin-Wheels?

Many old maps have lines like below. Is there a term for a map with that type of lines? (from http://r-russell0912-dc2.blogspot.com/2011/01/pirate-maps-and-old-maps.html) My best hypothesis is that ...
3 votes
2 answers
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What was the extent of Japanese control after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs and before surrender?

What was the extent of Japanese control after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? I am talking about before their surrender. A map would be extremely preferred for better understanding.
0 votes
2 answers
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Where can I find clean maps of colonial America?

I have been trying to find maps of North America with the various territories, but the closest I can find are actual maps made from that time. Where can I find clean, modern (projection) maps of ...