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A printed ratio saying how much the map reduces the ground.
Also known as: Representative fraction, Map scale, Scale statement
A representative fraction such as one to twenty-five thousand says that one unit on the map is that many units on the ground. It works in any unit, which is why a ratio is printed alongside a scale bar rather than instead of it.
States the ratio between a distance on the map and the same distance on the ground, as a representative fraction.
Contexts: Maps
Is unit-independent, so the same ratio serves a metric and an imperial reader, which is why it appears alongside a graphical scale bar rather than replacing it.
Contexts: Maps
Determines what can be shown: features below a certain size are omitted or exaggerated rather than drawn to scale, on every map.
Contexts: Maps
A printed ratio of two numbers separated by a colon, set in the map margin near a graduated bar.
The ratio and the bar say the same thing in different ways.