Thematic Map

Below is a picture of a Thematic Map that illustrates a specific value or data as it pertains to a particular land mass.  A Thematic Map is useful in displaying items such as populations and other census data.  Below we can see the number of new businesses by shaded color to represent new businesses by the thousands in the year 1999.

http://www.greenmailservices.com/images/choro.jpg

Topographic Map

Below is an image of a Topographic Map which shows the shape of an area as well as the elevation and terrain.  Topographic Maps are useful because they accurately show the natural and man made features of a land mass.

http://www.geomart.com/images/digital/drg/drgplain.jpg

Planimetric Map

Below is picture of a Planimetric Map which illustrates only parallel features of a land mass without any detail about the terrain.  These types of maps are useful because they typically show areas within an actual scale of distance and size.  As a result, they are widely used by engineers and military personnel.

http://what-when-how.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/tmp166_thumb.jpg

Mental Map

Below is a picture of a Mental Map which gives an individual interpretation of the sizes and distances of land masses.  This Mental Map below illustrates the land area sizes, oceans, and general shapes of each continent.  Mental Maps are helpful in creating a general understanding of areas.

http://andrewshears.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/mydrawtheworld.jpg