The subject dealing with making maps is called cartography. With the gradual development of science and technology importance of detailed maps have become prominent. Therefore thematic maps have emerged in the recent days. Thematic maps are subject based. They concentrate on some special aspect of a country or a continent. Generally there are two main types of thematic maps and they are known as physical maps and political maps. Apart from these there are road maps and other special maps too.
As far as it is known, the first thematic maps evolved in the middle of the 17th century. Quality of these maps were sketchy. The map makers did not have any help from the satellites as they do now a days. John Snow, a London resident and a physician by profession is believed to be the first person who first developed a thematic map based on cholera cases taking place in the city. This idea of his gradually gave birth to GIS or Geographic Information System.
There are various types of symbols with special attributes that are used for the understanding of the thematic maps. Use of regional colors is also one of the popular methods for these maps. They are technically known as Dasymetric Maps. Dot Maps are some of the first designed thematic maps. The first thematic map made by Mr. Snow belonged to this category.

Cartography is the name of the subject which is associated with the making of maps. From the ancient times many have tried to make a proper map of the world. Reading about these ancient map makers is very interesting. It was a time when no satellite was there to take photographs of this planet from the space. Therefore most of the maps were based upon researches and assumptions.
The first map of the world has been discovered from an Anatolian city which is known as Catal Huyuk. As far as it can be known, this map was made in the 7th millennium before the birth of Jesus Christ. This earliest map showed mainly the directions but no clarification was present regarding the countries. 
Examples of early cartography from India are available from the age of Ramayana. Indians were aware of the importance of the Pole Star as an indication of a fixed direction. From the 15th century, cartography became comparatively easier with the inventions of compass, telescope and sextant. The surveying techniques also improved a lot helping the explorers to get authentic idea about the maps of the various places.
Today there are different types of maps of the world based on different themes. Therefore these maps are known as thematic maps. Students and researchers depend on these thematic maps more than the general ones. There are also topographic maps which have become very popular in the recent days.

Searching for a map of India yesterday, I came to know a lot about cartography – the art of map making. I was amazed to find that cartography includes so many things – aesthetics, science as well as technical ability. Moreover, the cartographers have to represent a three dimensional curved surface into a two dimensional flat surface. So much just to make a map!

I was surprised to know the fact that cartography was an integral part of the human civilization since last 8,000 years. Earlier maps of various scales were drawn by hand. In the present times, however, computers have been of great help. CAD, GIS and illustration softwares are of great help for map making in the recent times. A large number of symbols and lines are used in order to depict geographic information on the maps.  A cartographer has to know all these symbols and lines.

Cartography also has two categories – thematic and general. General cartography is done for general users whereas the thematic cartography is meant for specific audience. Apart from this, there is also an orienteering map which is a combination of thematic and general cartography.  Topographic (contour lines) map and topological maps are also available. Most importantly all these maps are available online.