Cartography of Europe
making of maps of Europe
The earliest cartographic depictions of Europe are found in early world maps. In classical antiquity, Europe was assumed to cover the quarter of the globe north of the Mediterranean, an arrangement that was adhered to in medieval T and O maps.
Ptolemy's world map of the 2nd century already had a reasonably precise description of southern and western Europe, but was unaware of particulars of northern and eastern Europe.
Medieval maps such as the Hereford Mappa Mundi still assumed that Scandinavia was an island. Progress was made in the 16th century, and Gerard Mercator gave an accurate representation of all of Europe, including Scandinavia shown as a peninsula.
Circa 2014 there are maps of Europe that focus on the unemployment rate of each country, the expansion of member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and more.
See also
History of Cartography
Geography of Europe
Cartography of Asia
Cartography of Africa
Boundaries between continents
References
Further reading
Harley, J.B. (1988). "Silences and secrecy: The hidden agenda of cartography in early modern Europe". Imago Mundi. 40 (1): 57–76.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cartography of Europe” is making of maps of Europe. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cartography, Europe and making, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5047383. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014 and 1988.
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