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  • 1.  Did you know why North is on the top of most maps?

    Moderator
    Posted 11-14-2017 21:07
      |   view attached

    It is completely artificial that we have North at the top of a map. The convention came a few centuries ago when European navigators started using the North star and the magnetic compass. Before that, the top of the map was to the East which is where the word 'orientation' comes from. Get it - Orient?

    Check out this map called the The World Turned Upside Down: The Hobo-Dyer map is an equal area projection. One side of it has north on the top, the other has south. This map not only shows true size comparisons, but also turns the world upside down to challenge North-South perceptions.

    Challenge your perceptions every day and you may learn something new! The application of GIS is expanding into new types of analytics to drive new outcomes in virtually every type of business, organization and function.

    See Attachment



  • 2.  RE: Did you know why North is on the top of most maps?

    Employee
    Posted 11-15-2017 13:09

    Now you got me confused 😲



  • 3.  RE: Did you know why North is on the top of most maps?

    Posted 11-15-2017 13:18

    Surely using North at the top makes sense once you have discovered the North Star and magnetic compasses point that way...

    And the Australians have always wanted to be different πŸ˜‰