Why are maps oriented the way they are?

Question

What I mean is, why is North America always on the far left (west) and Asia on the far right (east)? I know it's due to the prime meridian (which is just an imaginary line), but WHO and more importantly, WHY was it decided that a round planet should be broken up in that particular way? Was it done way back when the Earth was supposedly flat and that way of making maps just continued to be passed down?

And why are we (in North America) called Westerners, when in reality, there is no real west? If you want to get technical, Asia is to the west of us just as much as we are to the west of them since the Earth is round.

Is it all done just to make things simpler? Because to me, it kind of just complicates things.

Answer 1

Your questions have more to do with history than with geography...



Why is North America always on the far left and Asia on the far right? Well, let me rephrase that: why is Europe always in the middle? Because the first world maps were put together in Europe, which for a long time thought itself to be the center of the world. Since then, the layout became a sort of an unwritten standard, partly because it allows the greatest amount of landmass to be shown with the least distortion...



Why are North Americans called Westerners? Again, the answer has to do with Europe. Ancient Greeks thought of themselves as Westerners, since they only knew of major civilizations to their East (most notably, Persia). Romans have inherited that notion, which subsequently passed on to medieval Europe. There, it took on an additional meaning, because in 1054, Christianity divided into Catholicism (Western Christianity) and Orthodoxy (Eastern Christianity). A Westerner, therefore, was someone who thought that the pope in Rome (rather than the patriarch in Constantinople) was the highest religious authority. Reformation did not change this notation, since there was no clear geographic boundary between Catholicism and Protestantism. Catholics and Protestants were still collectively referred to as Westerners, as opposed to Muslims or Eastern Christians. When Europeans started moving to North America (as well as Australia and New Zealand), they still thought of themselves as Westerners...



More recently, West and East were labels hung on the opposing parties in the Cold War. U.S., its Western European allies, and Japan were collectively referred to as "the West"; Soviet Union, the countries of the Warsaw Pact (all of which were located in Eastern Europe) and a few other Communist countries (such as Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and North Korea) were collectively referred to as "the East". A funny thing about it is that Greece and Turkey, which belong to the "East" in the religious meaning of the term (Greece is an Orthodox country, while Turkey is Muslim), belong to the "West" in terms of Cold War geopolitics, since they are NATO members...

Answer 2

You didn't ask, but North is on the top because early stargazers would look up and see the stars circling around a common point in 1 direction, so the even the earliest maps were drawn with that as most prominent direction: the top of the map.



Now look at the International date line. It runs through the Pacific Ocean in the place that has the least amount of land in a straight path from the North to the South pole. It was decided it would go there for a very good reason: on the West side of the line, it is 23 hours after the other side. Imagine driving to work and having to pass from Today to Tomorrow. Then driving to Yesterday to get home again. The potential for confusion is too great, so they put it away from where people would live.



Why are those who live in North and South America called Westerners? That goes back to the International Date Line. That line and the meridean opposite it (the Greenwich Meridean) are what decides East and West. Everything to the East of Greenwich is in the Eastern hemisphere and everything West is in the Western hemisphere, which places the entire North and South America in the Western hemisphere, except the Aleutian Island chain in Alaska. That's why we are Westerners.



The converse, which you didn't mention is that almost all of Europe are clearly in the Eastern hemisphere, but they are also considered Westerners, but that is due to them being on the Western side of the Eurasian landmass.

Answer 3

Because maps are made using different projections. The world is round and the only way that you could take a 3 dimensional object and make it 2 dimensional is through these projections. There are lots of mistakes when doing so and thus not a single map is 100% correct. It's kind of hard to explain these theories via the net because we learn the theories for Geography with relevant examples and pictures. Try browsing the net for map projections. And if you take a map and take a look below it, you will see a name like Mercator, cylindrical projection etc. Those are the types of projections used to draw maps.

Answer 4

It's all the supposition.

I think it were some of the modern explorers, geographers, who after knowing that the earth was round, tried to divide it into zones with refrence to a standard time, so that they could link the tome of one place with another. And that was how I think the meridan was established.



North Americans were posibly called westerners in the 18th century when Columbs discovered America. It was because the explorers in those times thought that earth was flat and America laid to the west of Europe and Asia to its East.

Answer 5

I think it was due to Canadian Sir Sanford Fleming - he created the standard time zone system used by the whole world today. Before his idea, everybody kept time by when the sun was highest (noon).



When the time zones were created, it was handy to put Greenwich, England as 0 degrees, and 180 degrees (the International Date Line) on the other side of the world all the way up and down the Pacific. Thus, the line where you go from one day to another isn't over any populated areas.



Hence, east of 0 degrees is the Eastern Hemisphere, and west of 0 is the Western Hempisphere.



It wasn't because Europe saw themselves as the center of everything, it is because there was nowhere else but the Pacific to stick the 180-degree International Date Line. And Europe just happened to be on the exact opposite side of there.

Answer 6

I find most maps to have the Americas smack dab in the center and angled toward North America. This is probably because of the mapmaker's home territory. Regarding the West vs East, that is a concept as old as the hills, originating back when Europe thought is was the center of the world. Therefore America was West and Asia was East. That just stuck.

Answer 7

When America was first discovered, it was found west of the known land. This then was passed down through the ages, and we now have the same old map, although some maps show it the exact opposite way, for what reason I have no clue.

Answer 8

How would you like it. The world revolves around you! You have to look at the development of Cartography and the time-line of the New world discovery. Maps are flat for navigation purposes.The origin of the earliest known civilizations were in Europe, which way did they circumnavigate and how did this evolve? How did mathematics and astronomy contribute in the earlier time period? How did accuracy of map making affect travel? Did you think that Maps purchased in Europe may look different than the maps of the world we know of today? Do you think Russia in the 70's disclosed maps of military accuracy? Maps are changing daily through natural and man made influences. Perspective!

Answer 9

Maps today are the result of millennia of study and observation and focus on the exact lay of the land. The period of Colonialism was one of great development in mapmaking techniques, and actually led in some ways to the development of the modern map.



Maps first began with merchants learning land or sea routes, but leaving all other areas empty or filling them in with illustrations. Then with trading some landmarks were added to the maps and eventually over time they became more detailed because of colonial holdings.



With modern technology, Cartographers- map makers have the entire world mapped geographically with amazing precision , Information on the maps have widen to include not just the lay of the land, but the content of the land, it's goods and people with colours signifying land, water or mountain terrain etc.

Answer 10

Because maps are made using different projections. The world is round and the only way that you could take a 3 dimensional object and make it 2 dimensional is through these projections. There are lots of mistakes when doing so and thus not a single map is 100% correct. It's kind of hard to explain these theories via the net because we learn the theories for Geography with relevant examples and pictures. Try browsing the net for map projections. And if you take a map and take a look below it, you will see a name like Mercator, cylindrical projection etc. Those are the types of projections used to draw maps.

Answer 11

It has a very simple but long answer.



First some of the answers before are correct actual cartography is occidental and conventional.This answers the WHO

WHEN: There was a time not long ago, still around the 1600´s where every map system had a different center or starting point of reference. That is why there was so much spying in, say, Columbus times, because not only their maps were highly secret even thoughl the spanish maps took Madrid as the 0 meridian and coordinate system, the french had Paris, the english greenwich and arab maps Meca, and so forth. Visit any old map site and see what country is in the center of the map and the relation with the origin of the map.



WHY: After a while, when most routes where open around the world and there was no reason the keep them secret, they got together, some Occidental powers that is, and conveened arbitarily, or by arbitrium - or consense- to chose one 0 meridan that was the same for all. I do not know if they flipped a coin or they just used all type of leverage between each other but at the end they chose Greenwich as 0 meridian.



Wrong: Some scientists say that it is due to the magnetic polarities of the earth, but this is not ont only bolony but is untrue since the magnetic polarities of the earth fluctuate and change continuously.That is why when Columbus sailed towards America (which by the way should be called Colonbia, Vikingia, or to be New Mongolia, since mongolic peoples were the first to cross into america via the frozen bering straight, and hence are the ascenstors of american indians, and got there first) well Columbus noticed that his instruments were giving very different readings that were not logic. The changes in magnitudes around the equator where fluctuating and his quite basic instruments going Bananas.

So he wandered why this was.



If nor australians or canadians fall into space, because of gravity, the position of the whole universe is again arbitary and has names which differ in many languages. Just take any earth globe and put it upside down on its holding axis and you will understand that basically nothing changes just there is a translation of 180 degrees but the universe remains the same. Again an occidental conventional system.

PERCEPTION ERRORS: Now when we look at the the sky due to the speed of ligh we are seeing elemets that do not exist sumulataneously in time because space is flat, according to Einsteins relativity, and for exaple moon is quite close and the ligh (image) of the moon arrives to our eyes in x time however in the same field of view there are other lights, and these light take a Y period to arrive to our ayes. The light of this stars that we see as existing simultaneously with the moon originated in stars or constellations systems that are not there anymore, because, either they have moved or they do not exist anymore. Yet for us they exist simulaneously. So it is like if we took a photo of the sky different nights different days and different years and we used a graphic design program to make all the different photos, or layers, blend together and they would appear to exist all simultanously. Yet they are not. If we can make so huge errors evaluating somethings as apparently simple as the heavens, Imagen what kind of mistakes we can make with other more complex or confusing decisions.



I am occidental, and have no desire to discredit our culture or any guilt about these facts. However, the truth is how it is, we like it or not. Most people oriental or occidental do not give a rats **** about these issues.



I myself have by home globe upside down and teach my children that that white ball up there is not the moon, but something, which we know very little about, and which english speaking persons call moon I call Luna. And their mother calls Kuu. Yet the ball is not the moon.



I also have all maps in my walls upside down and have memorized world maps so I can draw them accuratelly upside down. Why,? Because scientists are not only dumb but to proud, and some humbleness would help threm learn something more and is quite OK.



All present and past knowledge about the world and everything on it is arbitrary, from numbers to medicine. It has been consensed for whatever reasons, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes for convenience or time pressures, yet north, south, east, west do not exist per se, they are just human artificial constructs, of the english language. In fact North in Finnish is Pohjois, South is Etela, East is Ita and West is Lansi, so you see in Finland there is no north, south etc.



All the science today is first based in language and sign systems which are all conventional and arbitrary and are underfunded. Already Protagoras of Samos, several hundred years BC, argued that 1 +1 = 3, and he was partly right, (too long to explain here) but I suggest you read some bokks on set theory and the disagreements between Mathematicians therein.



Then the astrophisicists, who are bummed out that particle phicisits have told them all their knowledge is bullshit, get together and since any news, is good news, their stripe pluto of ts condition of planet,



Why? To get noticed, since there is no reason not to consider Pluto a Planet. First because they themselves have been working and work till this day without an operational or theorectical definition of what is a planet.



Second since Pluto shares more characteristics with other planets in the solar system than let us say, Jupiter, which is a ball of gas...And even though there is no reason to strip Planets of their planethood. they will do anything, even ,ake their theoretical forefathers look like sh.... to get noticed.



WHY: If all these was of public domain, which by the way it is since it is all published in books, which are hidden at plain sight between millions of other books, and clearly understood then the thousands of millions of dollars spent in research, while so many die of hunger, for example, looking for something called black matter which no one has ever seen or detected with any machine, would have to be stopped and they would loose their jobs prestige etc.



Same reason if I ask exactly where does the heart ends and the aorta begins, since they are integrated, we would have to agree arbitarily and maybe someone would notice that the scientific status quo is in trouble,and some more dudes without a job, and many priviledges,

And no one would move aside when some man shouted Out of my way I am a Dr.....



So this is HOW it is, WHEN it happened, WHO did it and many reasons WHY, I could explain in more detail some of the thesis advanced here but it would be too time consuming for this forum and a virtual relation. Best wishes anyway

San2

Answer 12

DanE is right. It's becuase the maps that we use were developed by Europeans. All societies that developed maps always made there country (area) front and center because they they were the most important and the world revolved around them (don't mean this is in a technical sense) I mean the sizing is way off if you look at it, it's way screwed up. I mean yes it will be messed up becuase you're trying to make something round flat but Africa is way bigger than Greenland not twice the size. The whole west and east thing is also made by Europeans. Because they believed they were center. North America is west of Europe, Asia is East, Africa is South, Up is north. ^_^

Answer 13

well, thiis is a basically racist way to portray maps made by the europeans: europe is in the middle. there is 3 main projectioins of the modern map, Mercator, Eckert, and Interrupted. they are all distortions. now this is a very interesting perspective of the world created by Australians:

http://www.metskers.com/images/Upside%20Down%20World%20Folded.jpg

this shows that there is no such thing as east, west, north, or south.

it's a controversial issue

Answer 14

If you look at maps in Singapore it is different....China is in the middle, the US and North America to the right and Europe to the west.



I think that is because the Western countries started to design their maps putting Europe in the centre. European immigrants brought that concept to America. In China we naturally do it differently...and put China in the middle.

Answer 15

That is because all started in Europe, and Europeans was dominant and they created maps that we know. Europe is called 'old continent', and America - new continent or new world. But there are maps where America is in center, where Asia in in center..., but they all have to use meridians where Greenwich is zero meridian.

Answer 16

well, you do have a point. it is confusing but they map it out that way so it is easier to see where everything is. we are called westerners because we are on the west of the world map, and because of the way the map was layed out. and yes it is done to make things simpler.

Answer 17

I think modern maps are that way because of the inter-national date line that runs through the Pacific.

Answer 18

Simply done that way for simplicity, consistency and ease of understanding them for all. E-W-N and S are based on the prime meridian

Answer 19

Can i just say this is a good question one of the best ive seen on here good job and I belive you have your answer above seems very informitive

Answer 20

I would figure that that is because that is the way the world looks. And that is what maps show!

Answer 21

I do think it had to do with when the world was flat. Back then Western Europe and West Africa were as far west as was charted and they figured the end of the earth was past that. I guess maps were drawn that way.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_world_map

Answer 22

acually i think the people in the old world make their maps oriented the other way arrownd... not sure though, but i belive i saw one of those once, or twice..tree times

Answer 23

what's even more complicated is how many different kinds of world maps there are. some have bizarre representations, some are upside down, and some are backwards to the ones you and I are used to, because different parts of the world have their own maps.

it's so bizarre.

Answer 24

relative to the old world. old world center is in the middle. (now it is the middle east)

Answer 25

Because English white men developed the system you are used to.





In the same way that the Equator separates the Northern and Southern hemispheres, the Greenwich Meridian divides the East from the West. The zero degrees longitude line runs from the North Pole to the South Pole, passing directly through the Old Royal Observatory building at Greenwich in South East London. It is the basis for timekeeping and navigation throughout the world.



It is, in fact, one of a countless number of meridians in the world - every possible line of longitude is one - and until a little over a century ago, many different ones were adopted by different countries for map-making, navigation and timekeeping.



Even today, it can be confusing as there are four Meridians all passing through the Old Royal Observatory.



The earliest is Flamsteed's, named after the first Astronomer Royal, which was established in 1675. In 1725, Edmund Halley, the second Astronomer Royal established a second Meridian.



The third was defined by another Astronomer Royal, James Bradley, in the mid 18th century, and is still used as the basis for map-making in Britain today.



The fourth Meridian was established in 1851 by yet another Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, who set up new measuring equipment in a room alongside Bradley's original equipment. It is the positioning of this neighbouring equipment, just 5.79 metres (19ft) away, which eventually became the basis for international time. Due to the convergence of meridians of longitude towards the poles, Bradley's Meridian is 5.9m west of Airy's where they cross the South Coast of England, and 5.5m west where they cross the East Coast.



As the pace of development and travel accelerated in the 19th century, it became clear there would have to be a common, world-wide standard for timekeeping. In 1884, 25 countries reached agreement at a conference in Washington, USA, that Airy's Greenwich Meridian would be adopted as the `Prime Meridian' - zero degrees - from which time could be set and from which other points of longitude could be calculated. Over a period of many years, countries which had not necessarily been party to this original agreement accepted and adopted the decision.



So since 1884, the Airy line has been The Greenwich Meridian, although for practical mapping purposes in Britain (excepting hydrographic charts) the Bradley line continues in use as the zero meridian. The difference between the two is known and well defined - and is important scientifically - but for most day-to-day purposes

has no real consequence.

Answer 26

It is so that no country is the center of the map making it fair for all (the world doesnt revolve around one country.)

Answer 27

I don't know



Just to demonstrate that maps haven't always been like this, consider the Mappa Mundi, which shows Jerusalem at it's centre.



I think it's one of the oldest surviving maps and dates from the middle ages.

Answer 28

Great question

Answer 29

because maps usedtoday originated from Europe as they discovered "new" lands and made more and more maps ...



It's a by-product of our history.

Answer 30

Very good question, indeed. Worthy of thumbs up from me.

Answer 31

very interesting question

Answer 32

because back then people believed that the world was flat ( that's way maps were before globes) and they knew that the world was slipt so on each voyage or whatever they took an artist to go and sketch the area. then put it together in relation to the stars(don't ask how it sounds resonable i guess)

Answer 33

cause thats how it was started

Answer 34

Can you think of a less complicated way?

Answer 35

map shows the pictorial representation

Answer 36

because

Answer 37

Because Julio Venetti was right handed, he created the first map

Answer 38

because your mom made it that way

Answer 39

i dont know y dont u ask the one who invented it.i guess he can answers your question

Answer 40

because they were drunk

Answer 41

i dont know the reason why and i totally understand what you're saying. they just have to standardize it and it was probably just done that way by chance, not for any particular reason.



that could be said for anything. why make "zero" zero, why not make 100 represent 0. lol.