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Since it is virtually two-dimentional, a flat map is easy to carry and can be displayed on a wall or a screen. However, the areas near the poles get distorted in the "flatening" of world maps, and unless the world map is a repeating computer image, it cannot realistically display the continuity between its western and eastern edges.

The advantages include portability. You can have a book of maps showing many places in great detail. The disadvantage is that there will always be some distortion of distance and direction, because Earth's surface covers a sphere, and you can't represent that completely accurately on a map. A world map is much less accurate than a map showing only a small area.

Depending on the situation in which the map is being used, paper maps offer several advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages of using a paper map:

  • Paper maps are very portable and lightweight. They can be easily folded and placed inside a pocket or bag for easy transport.
  • Paper maps don't require any technical knowledge or an internet connection which is helpful in particular when in a place with no internet connection.
  • Paper maps also don't require a battery or any power to operate.
  • Paper maps are cheaper to own since no devices such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone are needed to use one.

Some disadvantages of using a paper map:

  • Paper maps can be expensive and labor intensive to produce. Since the ability to pan and zoom, select different layers of information to show, or search for a location are not part of using a paper map, these types of maps need to have a higher resolution of information available within them. In order to make a high resolution map readable, manually placing labels, carefully selecting color symbolization and other attention to detail is required by the cartographer.
  • Paper maps can be very large and therefore unwieldy when completely unfolded. It can also be very challenging for some to refold the map properly.
  • Paper maps can't be easily used in rainy or windy weather without difficulty and damage occurring to the map. Wet maps can tear easily and if waterproofed ink isn't use (or a protective covering), the ink will run and smudge, making the map unreadable. Windy weather can tear at the map or even blow it completely out of the hands of the user.
  • Since paper maps are static, they can rapidly become outdated, especially if viewing an area that has experienced recent change, unlike online maps which update behind the scene advantages and disadvantages of a paper map. Users of paper maps would need to make sure they have the latest published available map when viewing an area that has experienced change.
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Tomasa Okuneva

Lvl 12
2y ago

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