The essential features of a map.
1. Title – A Map should have a title eg. India Physical, Karnataka Political, World Cultural, District Roads etc.
2. Scale – A Map must have a scale and Maps have to be drawn according to scale. It denotes the relationship between the length on the map and the actual distance on the ground. Scales may be Verbal or R.F (Representative Fraction) or Graphical eg. 1 cm = 10km, 1 inch= 100 miles, 1: 1000,1: 100000 etc.
3. Direction – A Map should have a direction symbol which helps the reader to understand the direction of a Place or Area or City or Country etc.
4. Index – It is a key or legend to the map. The conventional signs and symbols are shown in the index of a map. It helps the reader to find the required information from the map.
5. Latitudes and Longitudes – A Map must have a network of horizontal and vertical lines known as latitudes and longitudes. These are the Geographic co-ordinates through which location of a place or city or country is identified. In addition to this, they help to understand the direction and to calculate distance between places.
