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Scale of a map and its classification

Short answer

Scale is the ratio of map distance to ground distance. It is classified by expression as numerical, verbal, or graphical. By size, large scale ranges from 1:500 to 1:10,000, medium from 1:10,000 to 1:100,000, and small scale is smaller than 1:100,000.

Explain 'Scale of a Map' and how the scale is classified and what its range of values is.

The scale of a map is the ratio between a distance measured on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground:

Scale (RF)=map distanceground distance(same units)\text{Scale (RF)} = \frac{\text{map distance}}{\text{ground distance}} \quad (\text{same units})

For example, 1:50,000 means 1 cm on the map = 50,000 cm = 500 m on the ground.

Classification

By the way it is expressed

  1. Numerical scale or RF (e.g. 1:25,000).
  2. Verbal (statement) scale (1 cm = 250 m).
  3. Graphical scale (bar, plain, diagonal, vernier).

By size (range of values)

ClassRange of scaleUse
Large scale1:500 to about 1:10,000Detailed plans, cadastral, engineering design
Medium scale1:10,000 to about 1:100,000Topographic maps, regional planning
Small scaleSmaller than 1:100,000Atlas, general and index maps

A larger denominator gives a smaller scale. A large-scale map shows a small area in great detail; a small-scale map shows a large area with few details. In Nepal, cadastral maps are 1:500 to 1:2500 and topographic maps are 1:25,000 and 1:50,000.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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