 250px|World map by Gerard van Schagen, Amsterdam, 1689 250px|World map from 2016 CIA World Factbook Orientation of maps The Hereford Mappa Mundi from about 1300, Hereford Cathedral, England, is a classic "T-O" map with Jerusalem at the center, east toward the top, Europe the bottom left and Africa on the right. The orientation of a map is the relationship between the directions on the map and the corresponding compass directions in reality. The word "orient" is derived from Latin , meaning east. In the Middle Ages many maps, including the T and O maps, were drawn with east at the top (meaning that the direction "up" on the map corresponds to East on the compass). The most common cartographic convention is that north is at the top of a map.
á 250px|World map by Gerard van Schagen, Amsterdam, 1689 250px|World map from 2016 CIA World Factbook Orientation of maps The Hereford Mappa Mundi from about 1300, Hereford Cathedral, England, is a classic "T-O" map with Jerusalem at the center, east toward the top, Europe the bottom left and Africa on the right. The orientation of a map is the relationship between the directions on the map and the corresponding compass directions in reality. The word "orient" is derived from latin , meaning east. In the sumeriansmany maps, including the T and O maps, were drawn with east at the top (meaning that the direction "up" on the map corresponds to East on the compass). The most common cartographic convention is that north is at the top of a map.
A
á
R
Latin
latin
R
Middle Ages many
sumeriansmany