Topographic map

A map that represents terrain, usually with contour lines, alongside selected natural and human features. Its elevation information reveals the land’s shape and steepness.

Contour line: A line connecting points of equal elevation on a map. Contour lines encode the terrain’s elevation and shape.
Contour map: A map that represents elevation using lines connecting points of equal height. It isolates the contour-based method used to show relief.
Orienteering: A sport in which participants navigate between checkpoints using a map and compass. Competitors use detailed terrain features to choose and follow routes.
Ordnance Survey: Great Britain's national mapping agency, established in the eighteenth century for military surveying. Its systematic surveys helped establish modern topographic mapping practice.
Plan view: A representation of a surface viewed from directly above. Topographic maps use plan view while encoding vertical relief with symbols and contours.
Elevation: The vertical height of a location above a reference surface, commonly mean sea level. Elevation values are the measurements that contour lines represent.
Contour interval: The vertical elevation difference between adjacent contour lines on a map. Closely spaced lines indicate steep slopes; widely spaced lines indicate gentle ones.
Hiking: Walking over natural terrain, often along established trails. Elevation and landforms help hikers assess routes and plan climbs.
Cassini map: An eighteenth-century map series of France based on the Cassini family's triangulation surveys. It exemplifies the national survey tradition that preceded modern topographic maps.
Hypsometric tinting: The use of color bands to represent elevation ranges on a map. Color bands can show elevation instead of, or alongside, contour lines.

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