Maps and Globes Vocabulary

A tool on a map showing cardinal (N,E,S,W) and intermediate (NE,SE,NW,SW) directions.

• rose

• compass rose

• compass

• directions

one of the seven large landmasses on the earth

• continents

• oceans

• land

• glacier

An imaginary circle around the middle of the earth, halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole

• equator

• prime meridian

• longitude

• continent

a round model of the Earth

• map

• hemisphere

• equator

• globe

half of the earth

• sphere

• equator

• latitude

• hemisphere

distance north or south of the Equator, measured in degrees

• longitude

• latitude

• prime merdian

• map key

Distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees

• longitude

• equator

• latitude

• compass rose

A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it.

• map key

• globe

• map

• Earth

0 degrees longitude

• prime meridian

• equator

• globe

• compass rose

The ratio between the size of an area on a map and the actual size of that same area on the earth's surface.

• scale

• map key

• symbol

• map