General purpose maps do not show any one feature with special emphasis. These maps present an all-purpose view of a region and show features such as roads, power lines, transportation routes, and water features.
World Weather Map
Special-purpose maps are made for specific purposes such as ocean charts for navigation, or cadastral maps that show property ownership. They are generally made at a large scale and show only a small proportion of the Earth's surface at one time.
Geomorphic Provinces of California
Thematic maps are maps that show information on a specific single topic. Thematic maps use base map data that give the most basic of details such as coastline shape or political boundary, and the location of major water features. On this base map, topical spatial data is illustrated. Thematic maps can be drawn to represent almost limitless themes. The themes can be physical attributes about the land and water systems that exist on the Earth, or the themes could be about social issues such as where crimes occur. The purpose of thematic maps is to show how the theme being mapped is organized in space. Some examples of thematic maps are weather maps that show atmospheric pressure, or amounts of precipitation. Another example is a bathymetric map that shows the shape of the land beneath the ocean. Or a thematic map might be about the distribution of chicken farmers in a farming region.
