Definition: Scale

Category: UN - Geographic Information Systems

In cartography, the relationship between the distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the Earth’s surface. Scale is reported as a ratio, for example, 1:100,000, which means that 1 centimetre on the map equals 100,000 centimetres on the Earth’s surface. Since scale is a ratio, a "small scale" map shows a relatively large area, while a "large scale" map shows a small area. More generally, scale refers to the level of observation or enquiry, which may range from micro-scale to macro-scale phenomena. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/Handbook_Geo_Infrastr_Supp_Census_Activ.pdf