Chapter 5
Interpreting Topographical Maps
Topographical Maps
❖ Topographical maps are large-scale maps showing the details of the
physical and human features of a specific area.
❖ These maps are used to locate specific places as well as to understand the
physical and human environments and the interrelationship between them.
Basic Map Reading Skills
Locating features or places
❖ On every topographical map, there are vertical and horizontal lines called
grid lines.
❖ Grid lines are numbered along the margins of a map.
❖ The vertical grid lines are called eastings because their numbers increase
eastward.
❖ The horizontal grid lines are called northings because their numbers
increase northward.
❖ The point at which an easting crosses a northing is called a grid reference.
❖ Grid references can be used to describe the location of any area or feature on
a map.
Four-figure grid reference
❖ Four-figure grid references are used to locate the grid square of an area or a
large feature on a map.
Six-figure grid reference
❖ Six-figure grid reference gives us the exact location of a specific feature which
is usually small.
Page 1 of 5
Finding directions
The direction of a place from another on a map can be identified using compass
points or compass bearings.
Compass points (north, south, east and west)
Additional points (northeast, southeast, south west and northwest)
➢ Compass points only provide an approximate general direction.
Compass bearings
➢ To find direction more accurately (exact), we need to measure the direction in
degrees which is called the compass or gird bearing.
➢ We need to use a protractor.
➢ Compass bearings are measured from north or 0° in a clockwise direction.
➢ Therefore, 90° coincides with east, 180° coincides with south, 270° with
west, 45° with northeast and so on.
Measuring distances
The actual straight or curved distance between two points on the ground can be
obtained by making use of the scale shown on the map.
• Straight-line distance (ruler or paper)
• Curved distance (string or paper)
Interpreting Environments
Physical environments
Physical features in the physical environment include rivers, lakes, hills and plants.
The height and shape of the land, as well as certain physical features, are
represented on topographical maps by contours.
Page 2 of 5
Using contours to represent relief
▪ In topographical map, we can interpret certain physical features by studying
the patterns made by the contours.
▪ Contours are imaginary lines that join places of the same height above sea
level.
▪ Contours are also used to represent relief, or the shape and the slope of the
land.
▪ Contours that are close together represent steep slopes.
▪ Contours that are far apart represent gentle slopes.
▪ When there is few or no contours, it means that the land is almost flat or flat
and is known as a plain.
Using contour patterns to interpret physical features
Hill and Mountain
▪ Contours are usually circular in form.
▪ The contours increase in height towards the centre.
▪ Hills are features less than 600 metres in height, while mountains are
above 600 metres height.
Valley
▪ A valley is a low area between hills or mountains.
▪ The contours form an inverted ‘V’ pointing towards higher ground.
▪ Most valleys contain streams or rivers (often shown as blue lines).
Plateau
▪ A plateau is a large upland area.
▪ It is usually steep-sided with a broad, flat top.
Ridge
▪ A ridge is an upland area that is long, narrow and steep-sided.
Page 3 of 5
Human environments
Human features in the human environment include buildings, farms, reservoirs,
roads and railways.
Generally, settlements are represented on topographical maps by individual squares
or rectangles; transports lines by coloured lines; and land use by colour shadings.
Settlements (eg cities, towns and villages)
A settlement is a place where people live and carry out activities such as farming
and trade.
Buildings, together with the roads that connect them, form a settlement.
On maps, settlements are represented by individual squares or rectangles.
Maps help us to find out why a settlement has grown at a certain location. The
reasons include:
o Flat land
o Supply of natural resources
o Fertile land
o Availability of transport lines
Transport lines (eg roads, railways, canals and tracks)
Transport lines refer to the routes that people use to travel from one place to
another.
They are usually represented by linear symbols and are differentiated by their
colours or shadings.
Examples are:
o Roads (red or oranges lines)
o Railways (black lines)
o Canals (blue lines)
o Tracks (dashed lines)
Page 4 of 5
The location and density of transport lines are usually related to the relite of the
area and the location of settlements.
Where land is steep or where there are only a few settlements, there are fewer
transport lines.
Land use (eg farming and mining)
Land use refers to how a piece of land is used in an area.
We can identify the types of human activities by referring to the symbols used
against the map legend.
Some examples of the different types of land use are:
o Agriculture (usually represented by green shading)
o Mining (the presence of mining trenches, mine dumps or mines)
Understanding the Physical and Human Environments shown on
Topographical Maps
We can do this by asking several questions about the environment.
• Is the land steeply sloping or gently sloping?
• What physical features are found there?
• Where do people live?
• Why do people live where they do?
• Are there few or many transport lines?
• What are the human activities carried out in the place?
Maps help us to locate and study the features on the Earth’s surface.
Through the use of maps, we can describe the environment and its features.
Page 5 of 5
