The history of the creation of the first map of the Russian Empire dates back to 1745. The famous Russian cartographer Ivan Kirilov together with the great astronomer Joseph Nicola de Lisle made his contribution to the creation and development of the collection of maps. The Whole Map of Russia represents the first and complete national survey of the European and Asian parts of Russia. Alexey Postnikov, author of the book "Russia in Maps", claims that this first atlas of Russia "brings together all the geographical discoveries of the early 18th century, which gives us an idea of Russian Empire that time. The atlas includes 20 maps = 17 maps + 2 pages of text, including plan diagrams St. Petersburg and Moscow. The cards have names in German and Latin; geographical names in Russian and Latin alphabet. The text of the cartouche is entirely in Latin. The titles of the title pages were made in French and Russian under the names Atlas Russicus and Atlas Rossiyskaya. 13 maps of the European part of Russia with a scale of 1: 1,470,000 (35 versts per inch, 1 verst equals 3500 feet), and 6 maps of Siberia with a scale of 1: 3,444,000 (82 versts per inch). There are also additional maps of Russian territory, plans for the Russian-Turkish War of 1736, engravings of military fortifications, maps of Lake Ladoga, the surrounding area of ​​St. Petersburg, Kronstadt and the Gulf of Finland.

General map of the Russian Empire extends from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean on a scale of 1:9030000:

Each of the 13 maps of the European part of Russia is made on a scale of 1: 1,470.00 or 35 versts per inch. Many of them have decorative cartouches:

This map shows the length of the Volga River:

6 maps of the Asian part of Russia on a scale of 1: 3444000 or 82 versts in inches:

Legend (in German) on the last page of text describes the various symbols used on the cards:

Plan of St. Petersburg since 1737:

Also included is a map showing the Gulf of Finland between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt Island, 1741:

And the plan of Moscow from 1739:

Map of the Caspian Sea since 1728:

Composite image of the map of European Russia:

And here is a composite image of a map of Siberia:

The title atlas pages and the text of the pages were printed in three languages: Russian, French, Latin and German.

For our ancient ancestors, the world was often limited to the land that surrounded and fed them. But even the earliest human civilizations still tried to measure the scale of this world and made the first attempts to draw maps.

The first such map is believed to have been created in Babylon over 2,500 years ago, and it shows the world beyond the Babylonian kingdom as poisonous waters and dangerous islands where (they believed) people could not survive.

Over time, maps gradually became larger in scale as people's knowledge of what lay beyond the Mediterranean grew. With the beginning of the era of wanderings and exploration in the 15th century, the concept of seeing the world changed, the East began to appear on maps, and a huge unexplored ocean appeared in place of America. And with the return of Columbus, maps of the world began to take on a form that was already understandable to us, modern people.

1. The oldest known map of the world is from Babylon (6th century BC). At the center of the world is the Kingdom of Babylon itself. There is a “bitter river” around him. The seven points across the river are islands that cannot be reached.

2. World map of Hecataeus of Miletus (5-6 century BC). Hecataeus divides the world into three parts: Europe, Asia and Libya, located around the Mediterranean Sea. His world is a round disk surrounded by ocean.

3. World map of Posidonius (2nd century BC). This map expands on the early Greek vision of the world, including the conquests of Alexander the Great.

4. World map of Pomponia Mela (43 AD)

5. Ptolemy's world map (150 AD). He was the first to add latitude and longitude lines to the world map.

6. Peitinger Tablet, a 4th-century Roman map showing the road network of the Roman Empire. The full map is very long, showing lands from Iberia to India. In the center of the world, of course, is Rome.

7. Map of the world by Kozma Indicoplov (6th century AD). The world is depicted as a flat rectangle.

8. A later Christian map in the form of a multi-colored clover leaf, compiled by Henry Banting (Germany, 1581). In fact, it does not describe the world, or rather, according to this map, the world is a continuation of the Christian Trinity, and Jerusalem is its center.

9. World map of Mahmud al-Kashgari (11th century). The world is centered around the ancient city of Balasagun, now the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Also included are places (countries) predicted to appear at the end of the world, such as Gog and Magog.

10. Map “Book of Roger” by Al-Idrisi, compiled in 1154. It was created based on information received from Arab traders who traveled around the world. At that time it was the most accurate and extensive map of the world. Europe and Asia are already clearly visible, but so far only the northern part of Africa is visible.

11. Hereford world map of the 14th century by one Richard of Haldingham. Jerusalem in the center, East at the top. The circle in the southern part of the map is the Garden of Eden.

12. Chinese map “Da Ming Hunyi Tu” from the late 14th century. The world through the eyes of the Chinese during the Ming Dynasty. China, of course, dominates, and all of Europe is squeezed into a small space in the west.

13. Genoese map, compiled in 1457 based on descriptions by Niccolò da Conti. This is how Europeans see the world and Asia after the opening of the first trade routes to Mongolia and China.

14. Projection of the globe Erdapfel (“Earth Apple”) by Martin Beheim (Germany, 1492). Erdapfel is the oldest known globe, showing the world as a sphere, but without America - instead there is still a huge ocean.

15. World map of Johann Ruysch, compiled in 1507. One of the first images of the New World.

16. Map by Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann from 1507. This was the first map to refer to the New World as "America." America looks like a thin strip of the east coast.

17. World map of Gerard van Schagen 1689. By this time, most of the world has already been mapped, and only small parts of America remain empty.

18. Samuel Dunn's 1794 world map. By charting the discoveries of Captain James Cook, Dunn became the first cartographer to depict our world as accurately as possible.

It is impossible to determine when a person made the first map. It is only known that many millennia BC, man already knew the area around him well and knew how to depict it on sand or tree bark. These cartographic images served to indicate migration routes, hunting places, etc.

Many more hundreds of years passed. People, in addition to hunting and fishing, began to engage in cattle breeding and agriculture. This new, higher level of culture was reflected in the drawings and plans. They become more detailed, more expressive, and more accurately convey the character of the area.

A very valuable ancient drawing of a hunting ground in the North Caucasus has survived to this day. This engraving was made on silver around 3 thousand years BC. e., i.e. This cultural monument of the inhabitants of the ancient Caucasus was found by scientists during excavations of one of the mounds on the bank of the river. Kuban near the city of Maykop.

In the ancient world, the compilation of geographical maps reached great development. The Greeks established the sphericity of the Earth and its dimensions, introduced cartographic projections, meridians and parallels into science.

One of the most famous scientists of the ancient world, geographer and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, who lived in Alexandria (at the mouth of the Nile River) in the 2nd century, compiled a detailed map of the Earth, which no one had ever created before.

This map depicts three parts of the world - Europe, Asia and Libya (as Africa was then called), as well as the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and other seas. The map already has a degree grid. Ptolemy introduced this grid to more correctly depict the spherical shape of the Earth on the map. The rivers, lakes, peninsulas of Europe and North Africa known at that time are shown quite accurately on Ptolemy’s map.

If you compare Ptolemy’s map with a modern one, it is easy to notice that areas located far from the Mediterranean Sea region, that is, known to Ptolemy only by rumor, received fantastic outlines.

What is especially striking is that Asia is not depicted in its entirety. Ptolemy did not know where it ended in the north and east. He also did not know about the existence of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Africa continues on the map to the South Pole and turns into some kind of land connecting to Asia in the east. Ptolemy did not know that Africa ends in the south and is washed by the ocean. He also did not know about the existence of independent continents - America, Antarctica and Australia. Ptolemy depicted the Indian Ocean as a closed sea, into which it was impossible to sail on ships from Europe. And yet, in the ancient world and in subsequent centuries, until the 15th century, no one compiled a better map of the world than Ptolemy.

The Romans widely used maps for administrative and military purposes; they compiled road maps.

During the Middle Ages, the achievements of ancient science were forgotten for a long time. The Church entered into a fierce struggle with scientific ideas about the structure and origin of the world.

In schools, fables were taught about the creation of the world by God in six days, about the global flood, about heaven and hell. The idea that the Earth was spherical was considered “heretical” by churchmen and was strictly persecuted. The idea of ​​the Earth took on a completely fantastic form. In the VI century. The Byzantine merchant - monk Cosmas Indicoplov depicted the Earth in the shape of a rectangle.

The main type of maps is becoming rough, far from reality and lacking a scientific basis, “monastery maps”. They indicate the decline of cartography in medieval Europe. During this period, many small closed states arose in Europe. With a subsistence economy, these feudal states did not need connections with the outside world.

By the end of the Middle Ages, trade and navigation began to develop in European cities, and art and science began to flourish.

In the XIII-XIV centuries. In Europe, a compass and marine navigation charts, the so-called portolans, appeared.

These maps depicted the coastline in detail and very accurately, while the interior parts of the continents remained empty or were filled with pictures from the life of the peoples inhabiting them.

The era of great geographical discoveries created the conditions for the rise of cartographic science: navigators needed a good, truthful geographic map. In the 16th century more correct maps appeared, built in new cartographic projections.
Geographic maps include a lot of scientific material. If you compare different maps of the same area and study them, you can get a very detailed picture of that area.

Therefore, geographical maps are a huge source of knowledge. But a map can become a real source of knowledge only when you have a certain amount of geographical knowledge.

Anyone with knowledge of geography and the ability to read a map can accurately understand the terrain depicted on it, rivers, mountain lakes, high or low hills, cities and villages, railways.

Humanity has always needed maps. Hundreds of years ago, sailors and travelers had already mapped the location of the continents, most islands, large rivers and mountains. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were practically no “white” places left on the world map, but still the accuracy of the location of most objects left much to be desired.

This is what maps looked like in the 16th century: Francis Drake's trip around the world, pay attention to the outlines of the continents

A new round in the development of cartography appeared thanks to the possibility of aerial photography of the area, and later satellite systems. Finally, people were able to solve a thousand-year-old problem - creating an ideal orientation object with maximum accuracy. But even then all the problems were not over.

It was necessary to create a tool that could process not only satellite images, but also information that, for example, only local residents could know. This is how the OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Wikimapia services appeared. Let's discuss in more detail how the real world is digitized and mapped.

Fixing the terrain

The first maps appeared thousands of years ago. Of course, these were unusual maps in the modern sense, but rather diagrams where straight and wavy lines depicted the bends of rivers, seas, mountain peaks, etc. Recently, a similar schematic map of Madrid districts dating back about 14 thousand years was found.

Later, a compass, telescope, sextant and other navigational instruments were invented, which during the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries made it possible to study and plot thousands of geographical objects on a large scale. A striking example of this is the map of Juan de la Cos, dated 1500. It is the middle of the last millennium that is considered to be the heyday of cartography. Around this time, basic map projections, mathematical methods, and principles for constructing maps were invented. But this was still not enough to create accurate maps.

Map of Juan de la Cos, 1500. It already has the outlines of the New World

A new stage in cartography began with topographic ground surveys of the area, and later aerial surveys. The first photographs of difficult-to-reach areas were taken from an airplane in 1910. After aerial photography of the area, a complex process of image decoding follows. Each object needs to be recognized, qualitative and quantitative characteristics identified, and then the results recorded. Simply put, you need to take into account three fundamental factors: the optics of the image, its geometry and placement in space.

Next comes the stage of creating the terrain. For this purpose, a contour-combined and stereotopographic method is used. In the first, the main heights of the area are determined with the help of geodetic instruments and then the contour lines of geographical objects are plotted on the images. In the second method, two photographs are superimposed on each other in such a way as to obtain a semblance of a three-dimensional image of the area, and then control heights are determined using instruments.

The advent of aerial photography in the 20th century made it possible to create more accurate maps and take into account the terrain

Satellite imaging

Nowadays, ground-based and aerial photography is being done less and less, and they have been replaced by Earth remote sensing satellites. Satellite imagery opens up a much wider range of possibilities for modern cartographers. In addition to relief data, satellite images help construct stereo images, create digital terrain models, determine the displacement and deformation of objects, and so on.

Satellites can be roughly divided into conventional and ultra-high resolution. Naturally, photographing the taiga or the ocean does not require very high-quality photographs, and for certain territories or tasks, satellites photographing in ultra-high resolution are simply necessary. Such satellites, for example, include Landsat and Sentinel models, which are responsible for global study of the state of environment and safety with spatial resolution accuracy of up to 10 meters.

The era of satellite imaging has brought the accuracy of maps to a resolution of 10 meters

Satellites regularly transmit terabytes of data in several spectrums: visible, infrared and some others. Information from the spectrum invisible to the human eye makes it possible to monitor changes in relief, the state of the atmosphere, the ocean, the occurrence of fires, and even the growth of agricultural crops.

Data from satellites is received and processed directly by their owners or official distributors, such as DigitalGlobe, Airbus Defense and Space and others. Many different services have been created based on Global Land Survey (GLS) data obtained primarily from the Landsat project. Landsat satellites have been producing real-time images of the entire globe since 1972. It is this project that remains the main source of information for all mapping services when designing small-scale maps.

Satellite imagery offers a wide range of data about the entire earth's surface, but companies typically purchase photographs and data optionally and for specific areas. For densely populated areas, images are captured in detail, while for less populated areas, they are captured in low resolution and in general terms. In cloudy areas, satellites take pictures several times until they achieve the desired result.

Based on satellite images and terrain measurements, vector maps are created, which are then sold to companies that print paper maps or create mapping services (Google Maps, Yandex.Maps). Creating maps on your own based on satellite data is a very difficult and expensive task, so many corporations buy ready-made solutions based on the Google Maps API or Mapbox SDK and then finalize some details with their own staff of cartographers.

Problems with satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap

In theory, in order to create a vector map, all you need is a satellite image and a graphic editor or service that can be used to draw all objects from the image. But in reality, everything is not quite like that: almost always, real objects on the surface of the earth do not correspond to digital data by several meters.

The distortion occurs due to the fact that all satellites take photographs at an angle to the Earth at high speed. Therefore in Lately To clarify the location of objects, they began to use photo and video shooting, and even car tracking. Also, to create accurate maps, orthocorrection is extremely necessary - converting satellite images taken at an angle into strictly vertical images.

Cartographic data received from satellites requires manual correction

And this is just the small tip of the iceberg. A new building was built, a ford appeared on the river, and part of the forest was cut down - all this is almost impossible to quickly and accurately detect using satellite images. In such cases, the OpenStreetMap project and similar ones, working on a similar principle, come to the rescue.

OSM is a non-profit project created in 2004, which is an open platform for creating a global geographic map. Anyone can contribute to improving the accuracy of the maps, whether through photographs, GPS tracks, videos or simple local knowledge. By combining this information and satellite images, maps are created that are as close to reality as possible. In some ways, the OSM project is similar to Wikipedia, where people from all over the world work to create a free knowledge base.

Any user can independently edit maps, and after these changes are checked and approved by project employees, the updated map becomes available to everyone. GPS tracks and satellite images from Bing, Mapbox, and DigitalGlobe are used as the basis for creating maps. Due to commercial restrictions google maps and Yandex cannot be used.

Open mapping projects allow anyone to join in creating accurate maps

Geodata is used to link or move objects from a satellite image. Using a GPS receiver, you need to record as many track points as possible along linear objects (roads, coastlines, rail tracks, etc.), and then apply them to satellite images. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Foursquare and others are responsible for updating the names of various objects linked to geolocation, and independently enter them into OpenStreetMap and Google Maps.

Bottom line

Progress does not stand still and cartography is no exception. Services are already being created based on machine learning and neural networks that are capable of independently adding objects, identifying densely populated areas and analyzing maps. So far, this trend is not yet very visible, but in the near future, people may not have to edit maps in OSM at all. Cartographers believe that the future lies in automated map creation, where machine vision will be used to model objects with centimeter accuracy.

A person is always driven by curiosity. Thousands of years ago, discoverers, going further and further into unknown lands, created the first semblances of geographical maps, trying to put the relief they saw on sheets of papyrus or clay tablets.

Probably the oldest map found is from the Egyptian Museum in Turin, made on papyrus by order of Pharaoh Ramses IV in 1160 BC. e. This map was used by an expedition that, on the orders of the pharaoh, was looking for stone for construction. The map familiar to our eyes appeared in ancient Greece half a thousand years BC. Anaximander of Miletus is considered the first cartographer to create a map of the world known at that time.

The originals of his maps have not survived, but 50 years later they were restored and improved by another scientist from Miletus, Hecataeus. Scientists have recreated this map based on the descriptions of Hecataeus. It is easy to recognize the Mediterranean and Black Sea and nearby lands. But is it possible to determine distances from it? This requires a scale that was not yet available on ancient maps. For a unit of measurement of length, Hecataeus used “days of sailing” on the sea and “days of marching” on dry land, which, of course, did not add accuracy to the maps.

Ancient geographical maps also had other significant shortcomings. They distorted the image, because a spherical surface cannot be turned onto a plane without distortion. Try to carefully remove the orange peel and press it to the table surface: you won’t be able to do this without tearing. In addition, they did not have a degree grid of parallels and meridians, without which it is impossible to accurately determine the location of the object. Meridians first appeared on the map of Eratosthenes in the 3rd century BC. e., however, they were carried out through different distances. It was not for nothing that Eratosthenes was called the “Father of Geography” as a mathematician among geographers. The scientist not only measured the size of the Earth, but also used a cylindrical projection to depict it on the map. In this projection there is less distortion because the image is transferred from the ball to the cylinder. Modern maps are created in different projections - cylindrical, conical, azimuthal and others.

The most perfect maps of the ancient era are considered to be the geographical maps of Ptolemy, who lived in the 2nd century AD. e. in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Claudius Ptolemy entered the history of science thanks to two large works: the “Manual of Astronomy” in 13 books and the “Manual of Geography”, which consisted of 8 books. 27 maps were added to the Geography Manual, among them a detailed map of the world. No one created a better one either before Ptolemy or 12 centuries after him! This map already had a degree grid. To create it, Ptolemy determined geographical coordinates(latitude and longitude) of almost four hundred objects. The scientist determined latitude (distance from the equator in degrees) by the altitude of the Sun at noon using a gnomon, longitude (degree distance from the prime meridian) by the difference in the time of observations of the lunar eclipse from different points.

In medieval Europe, the works of ancient scientists were forgotten, but they were preserved in the Arab world. There, Ptolemy's maps were published in the 15th century and reprinted almost 50 more times! Perhaps it was these maps that helped Columbus on his famous voyage. Ptolemy's authority grew so much that even collections of maps were called "Ptolemies" for a long time. It was only in the 16th century, after the publication of Gerardus Mercator’s Atlas of the World, on the cover of which Atlas was depicted holding the Earth, that collections of maps were called “atlases.”

Geographic maps were also created in Ancient China. Interestingly, the first written mention of a geographic map is not related to geography. In the 3rd century BC. e. The Chinese throne was occupied by the Qin dynasty. A rival in the struggle for power, Crown Prince Dan sent an assassin to the ruler of the dynasty with a map of his lands drawn on silk fabric. The mercenary hid a dagger in a bundle of silk. History tells that the assassination attempt failed.

During the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, images of America and Australia, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans appeared on world maps. Errors on maps often resulted in tragedy for sailors. Having explored the shores of Alaska, the large Kamchatka expedition of Vitus Bering in the 18th century did not have time to return to Kamchatka by the beginning of the autumn storms. The dreamer Bering spent three weeks of precious time searching for the mapped but non-existent Land of Gama. His sailing ship "St. Peter", broken, with sailors dying of scurvy, landed on a deserted island, where the famous Commander rested forever. “My blood boils every time,” wrote one of Bering’s assistants, “when I remember the shameless deception caused by an error on the map.”

Today, cartography is completely transferred to digital format. To create detailed maps, not only ground-based geodetic instruments are used - theodolite, level, but also airborne laser scanning, satellite navigation, and digital aerial photography.

Illustration: depositphotos.com | Kuzmafoto

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