The following is a list of notable extant historical maps.

Early world maps

Babylonian Map of the World The Babylonian Map of the World (also ''Imago Mundi'' or ''Mappa mundi'') is a Babylonian clay tablet with a schematic world map and two inscriptions written in the Akkadian language. Dated to no earlier than the 9th century BC (with a late 8th o ...

(flat-earth diagram on a clay tablet, c. 600 BC) *'' Tabula Rogeriana'' (1154) *

Psalter world map The Psalter World Map or the Map Psalter is a small mappa mundi from the 13th century, now in the British Library, found in a psalter (London, British Library MS Additional 28681). No other records of psalters found from the Middle Ages have a ...

(1260) *''

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

'' (1265, medieval map of the Roman Empire, believed to be based on 4th century source material) *

Hereford Mappa Mundi The Hereford Mappa Mundi (, map of the world) is the largest medieval map still known to exist, depicting the known world. It is a religious rather than literal depiction, featuring heaven, hell and the path to salvation. Dating from AD, the m ...

(c. 1285; the largest medieval map known still to exist) *Map of

Maximus Planudes Maximus Planudes (, ''Máximos Planoúdēs''; ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, scholar, anthologist, translator, mathematician, grammarian and theologian at Constantinople. Through his translations from Latin into Greek and from Greek into Latin, ...

(c. 1300), earliest extant realization of

Ptolemy's world map The Ptolemy world map is a map of the world known to Greco-Roman societies in the 2nd century. It is based on the description contained in Ptolemy's book ''Geography'', written . Based on an inscription in several of the earliest surviving manusc ...

(2nd century) * Gangnido (Korea, 1402) *

Bianco world map The Bianco World Map is a map created by '' Andrea Bianco'', a 15th-century Venetian sailor and cartographer who resided on Chios. This map was a large piece of a nautical atlas including ten pages made of vellum (each measuring 26 × ...

(1436) *

Fra Mauro map The Fra Mauro map is a World map, map of the world made around 1450 by the Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) cartographer Fra Mauro, which is “considered the greatest memorial of medieval cartography." It is a circular planisphere drawn on ...

(c. 1450) * Map of Bartolomeo Pareto (1455) * Genoese map (1457) *

Map of Juan de la Cosa The map of Juan de la Cosa is a world map that includes the earliest known representation of the New World and the first depiction of the equator and the Tropic of Cancer on a nautical chart. The map is attributed to the Castilian navigator and ...

(1500) * Cantino planisphere (1502) *

Piri Reis map The Piri Reis map is a world map compiled in 1513 by the Ottoman admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. Approximately one third of the map survives, housed in the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. After the empire's 1517 conquest of Egypt, Piri Re ...

(1513) *

Dieppe maps The Dieppe maps are a series of world maps and atlases produced in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, Dieppe, France, in the 1540s, 1550s, and 1560s. They are large hand-produced works, commissioned for wealthy and royal patrons, including Kings Henry II of ...

(c. 1540s-1560s) *

Mercator 1569 world map The Mercator world map of 1569 is titled (Renaissance Latin for "New and more complete representation of the terrestrial globe properly adapted for use in navigation"). The title shows that Gerardus Mercator aimed to present contemporary know ...

*''

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (, "Theatre of the Lands of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of un ...

'' (Ortelius, Netherlands, 1570–1612) *''

Kunyu Wanguo Quantu Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, printed in Ming China at the request of the Wanli Emperor in 1602 by the Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci and Chinese collaborators, the mandarin Zhong Wentao, and the technical translator Li Zhizao, is the earliest kn ...

'' (1602)

Notable atlases

*''

Atlas Maior The ''Atlas Maior'' is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin (11 volumes), French (12 volumes), Dutch (9 volumes), German (10 volumes) and Spanish (10 volumes), containing 594 maps and ...

'' (Blaeu, Netherlands, 1635–1658) *'' Klencke Atlas'' (1660) *''

'' (Blaeu, Netherlands, 1662–1667) *'' Cary's New and Correct English Atlas'' (London, 1787) *''

Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas ''Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas'' was a major cartographic work (general atlas) published in several German and foreign editions 1881–1937. It was named after Richard Andree (1835–1912) and published by Velhagen & Klasing, Bielefeld and Lei ...

'' (Germany, 1881–1939; in the UK as ''

Times Atlas of the World ''The Times Atlas of the World'', rebranded ''The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition'' in its 11th edition and ''The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World'' from its 12th edition, is a world atlas currently published by HarperCo ...

'', 1895) *''

'' (United Kingdom, 1895) *'' Rand McNally Atlas'' (United States, 1881–present) *''

Stielers Handatlas ''Stielers Handatlas'' (after Adolf Stieler, 1775–1836), formally titled ''Hand-Atlas über alle Theile der Erde und über das Weltgebäude'' (''Handy atlas of all parts of the world and of the universe''), was the leading German world atlas ...

'' (Germany, 1817–1944) *'' Atlante Internazionale del Touring Club Italiano'' (Italy, 1927) *'' Atlas Mira'' (Soviet Union/Russia, 1937)

Early regional maps

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

Turin Papyrus Map The Turin Papyrus Map is an ancient Egyptian map, generally considered the oldest surviving map of topographical interest from the ancient world. It is drawn on a papyrus reportedly discovered at Deir el-Medina in Thebes, collected by Bernardin ...

(c. 1150 BC) * Cartography of Europe **'' Carta Pisana'' (13th century) **

Corbitis Atlas The Corbitis Atlas (sometimes called the Corbizzi or Combitis) is a late 14th-century atlas of four portolan charts, composed by an anonymous Venetian cartographer, and held by the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, Italy. Background The ...

(late 14th century collection of portolan charts) *

Early Chinese cartography Chinese cartography began in the 5th century BC during the Warring States period when cartographers started to make maps of the Earth's surface. Its scope extended beyond China's borders with the expansion of the Chinese Empire under the H ...

**''

Da Ming Hunyi Tu The ''Da Ming Hunyi Tu'' (Chinese language, Chinese for the "Amalgamated Map of the Ming Empire") is an extensive China, Chinese map. It was painted in colour on stiff silk and 386 x 456 cm in size.(Wang et al. 1994:51) The original text was w ...

'' (late 14th century

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Chinese map) *

Maps of Russia A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

**''

Godunov map The Godunov map was an ethnographic map of Siberia commissioned by Alexis of Russia on 15 November 1667. The original is no longer extant, but two copies were made: one by Claes Johansson Prytz and the other by Fritz Cronman. It is named after ...

'' (1667) * Maps of Scandinavia ** Carta marina (c. 1530) **

Det Kongelige danske Søkortarkiv The Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive () was a Denmark, Danish Navy department, responsible for making accurate nautical charts for the Danish government, primary the Royal Danish Navy, Navy, for nearly 200 years. Its former building at Toldbodv ...

(1784) *

French cartography The history of French cartography can be traced to developments in the Middle Ages. This period was marked by improvements in measuring instruments and also by an upgrade of work in registers of all types. What is thought to be the oldest land map ...

: **Cassini maps (1756–1789) *

Cartography of India The cartography of India begins with early charts for navigation and constructional plans for buildings.Gole (1990) Indian traditions influenced TibetanSircar, 329 and Islamic traditions,Pinto (2006) and in turn, were influenced by the British ca ...

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Great Trigonometrical Survey The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was a project that aimed to carry out a survey across the Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton, under the auspices of t ...

(1802–1858) *

Maps of Korea A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

** Haedong Samgukdo *

Cartography of Switzerland The cartography of Switzerland is the history of surveying and creation of maps of Switzerland. Switzerland has had its current boundaries since 1815, but maps of the Old Swiss Confederacy were drawn since the 16th century. The first topographical ...

Dufour Map Dufour or ''variant'', may refer to: *Dufour (surname) Places *Dufourspitze or Dufour's peak, in the Swiss Alps * Julia Dufour, a village and municipality in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina Other uses * 1961 Dufour, main-belt asteroid *Dufour Aud ...

(1863) **

Siegfried Map Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

(1895–1926) *

Cartography of the United States The cartography of the United States is the history of surveying and creation of maps of the United States. Maps of the New World had been produced since the 16th century. The history of cartography of the United States began in the 18th cent ...

**''

Americae Sive Quartae Orbis Partis Nova Et Exactissima Descriptio ''Americae Sive Quartae Orbis Partis Nova Et Exactissima Descriptio'' (Latin: ''A New and Most Exact Description of America or The Fourth Part of the World'') is an ornate geographical map of the Americas, made in 1562 by Spanish cartographer Di ...

'' (1562) **New and Correct Map of the United States of North America

Abel Buell Abel Buell (1742–1822), born in Killingworth, Connecticut, was a goldsmith, silversmith, jewelry designer, engraver, surveyor, printer, type manufacturer, mint master, textile miller, and counterfeiter in the American colonies. In 1784, Buell ...

(1784) **

Samuel Augustus Mitchell Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1790, Bristol, Connecticut – December 20, 1868, Philadelphia) was an American geographer. He was born in Connecticut. Mitchell worked as a teacher before turning to publishing geography textbooks and maps. He became ...

(1867) **

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

, ''National Program for Topographic Mapping'' (1884) **'' War of the Rebellion Atlas'' (1895) *

Maps of the United Kingdom A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

**''The Brittania'' (

John Ogilby John Ogilby, Ogelby, or Oglivie (17 November 16004 September 1676) was a Scottish translator, impresario, publisher and cartographer. He was probably at least a half-brother to James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Airlie, though neither overtly acknowl ...

, 1670–1676) **

Principal Triangulation of Great Britain The Principal Triangulation of Britain was the first high-precision triangulation survey of the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, carried out between 1791 and 1853 under the auspices of the Board of Ordnance. The aim of the survey was to estab ...

(1784–1853)

Early world maps

Notable atlases

Early regional maps

See also