Patent ID: 8244465

Claim:
A navigation system comprising: a map data storage section for storing map data together with attributes and classes of the map data, the map data being composed of roads necessary for a route search and display elements including city centers and facilities, and the city centers being a display element each representing a city and indicating a representative position of the city, wherein the attributes are indicative of whether or not each of the roads should be displayed for each of a plurality of map scales; a display section for displaying the map data; an input section for inputting an instruction from a user; and a control section for carrying out: a procedure of calculating a route between an own-vehicle position and a destination represented by one of the display elements, the destination being instructed via the input section, in accordance with one of the plurality of map scales instructed via the input section, a procedure of displaying a map on the display section by: selecting the roads indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the instructed map scale, and by selecting the display elements based on ranks, further selecting each of the roads that is part of the calculated route but not indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the instructed map scale, and displaying the selected roads and the selected display elements on the display selection as part of the map.