Geography and Maps
Maps do more than guide travel. They show how people see the world and who holds power. From Great Zimbabwe and a 1390 Chinese map to colonial charts and Indigenous maps, mapmaking reveals culture, purpose, and control over land. In 1569, the Mercator projection improved ocean navigation but also changed how land looks. Today, digital maps and GPS help people move through daily life, yet their design still shapes what users see and value.
- Maps reflect the cultures, priorities, and power structures of the people who create them.
- Historical maps help explain how societies understood geography, identity, and their place in the world.
- Colonial and Indigenous maps reveal contrasting purposes, perspectives, and claims over territory and representation.
- Mapping technologies such as the Mercator projection and GPS improve navigation while still shaping perception through design choices.
Maps tell the visual story of history. They reflect choices, events, and global shake-ups. Use these classroom-ready teaching resources to help students understand the world and how it changes over time. Explore a full lesson or access a specific map with our map directory.
How to Teach Geography
Lesson Plan: Maps
In this lesson plan, students consider how maps reflect the priorities of their makers and how maps in turn shape our understanding of the world.
Here be dragons: Teaching world history in maps
How can maps help us understand the worldview of different societies? This blog explores over 15,000 years of maps, from Europe to Polynesia.
OER Project Map Index
Dive into our collection of political, thematic, and regional maps on a variety of world history topics.
OER Project: World History Maptivities Archive
Find a treasure trove of OER Project geography activities for all our world history courses.
Lessons Plans Featuring Geography and Maps
Lesson 7.9.2
The New Imperialism
This lesson deploys a geography activity to help students understand the so-called “Scramble for Africa” after the Berlin Conference in 1885.
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Lesson 8.7.2
Never Again
This lesson plan uses geography to help students understand the scale of atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
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Lesson 3.4.2
Ancient Trade Routes
In this lesson, students use an article about ancient trade as they map regional networks in the linked activity.
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Political World Maps
Political world maps offer snapshots of the world. They can help students see change and continuity over time as empires grow and collapse and borders move. Click here for our full collection of political maps.
476 CE Political Map
Map
476 CE Political Map
Zoom in on the ancient world on the cusp of dramatic changes, as Rome faces pressure from all fronts.
1789 CE Political Map
Map
1789 CE Political Map
Explore a world on the eve of the French Revolution, as European colonies expand in the Americas, and the newly independent United States looks westward.
1939 CE Political Map
Map
1939 CE Political Map
See how fascist regimes expanded in the decade before the Second World War, conquering new colonies and securing alliances abroad.
The Second World War in Maps
From 1937 to 1945, the world was engulfed in conflict. Students can use these maps and geography activities to understand the causes and outcomes of the war.
World War 2 in Europe and North Africa Map
Map
World War 2 in Europe and North Africa Map
This map traces the changing course of World War 2 in Europe and North Africa, from rapid Axis expansion to Allied counteroffensives and eventual victory.
Geography: The Hinge of Fate
Activity
Geography: The Hinge of Fate
Why did the Allies win? Why did the Axis powers fail? Use the four maps in this activity to piece together your answer.
Map of World War 2 in the Pacific
Map
Map of World War 2 in the Pacific
A full-color map of the Pacific theater in World War 2. This map features the territorial extent of the Japanese empire and major battles from 1937 to 1945.
Second World War (November, 1942) Thematic Map
Map
Second World War (November, 1942) Thematic Map
This world map reveals the global alliances of World War 2 and details the millions of civilian and military casualties from every nation and colony.
Geography: Holocaust Notice-Wonder-Question
Activity
Geography: Holocaust Notice-Wonder-Question
The map in this activity will help you understand the geographic scale of the Holocaust.
Map of the Holocaust
Map
Map of the Holocaust
This map helps reveal the scale and brutality of the Holocaust, as the Nazis deployed camps and mobile killing units across the European continent.
Geography and the Ancient World
As humanity expanded, they built cities and empires, transforming landscapes wherever they lived. These maps and geography activities will help students see the connections that linked the ancient world.
Ancient Silk Road Empires Map
Map
Ancient Silk Road Empires Map
This map highlights the linkages between ancient empires and long-distance trade along the ancient Silk Road.
Mapping Regional Trade Networks
Activity
Mapping Regional Trade Networks
In this activity, you’ll map the regional exchange networks of Afro-Eurasia and Mesoamerica, creating a visual representation of how trade connected different regions.
Expansion of the Roman Empire Map
Map
Expansion of the Roman Empire Map
Use this detailed map to see how the Roman Empire expanded and the vital roads and sea routes that linked its far-flung cities.
Achaemenid Empire and Greco-Persian Wars Map
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Map
Achaemenid Empire and Greco-Persian Wars Map
This map shows the expansion of the Achaemenid Empire and the wars the empire waged against the Greek city-states.
Geography: The Agricultural Revolution
Activity
Geography: The Agricultural Revolution
Can you predict where some of the first crops were grown? Use your geography skills to determine the correct locations.
Bantu Migration, Agriculture, and Iron Technology Map
Map
Bantu Migration, Agriculture, and Iron Technology Map
Use this map to investigate how the movement of Bantu-speaking peoples overlapped with the spread of agriculture and iron technology across Africa.
Medieval Maps
Use these materials to explore the conflicts and surprising connections that linked Christendom and the Islamic world during the medieval period.
Map of the Viking Age
Map
Map of the Viking Age
This map will help students understand how raiders from Scandinavia reshaped Europe during the so-called “Dark Ages,” building new kingdoms and trade routes.
Mapping Dar al-Islam
Closer
Mapping Dar al-Islam
Use a blank map of Afro-Eurasia to illustrate the spread of Islam and better understand how geography shaped the religion and culture of the Islamic world.
Spread of Islam Thematic Map
Map
Spread of Islam Thematic Map
This map shows the expansion of Islam as a world religion, from the conquests of Muhammad in the seventh century to the eighteenth century.
Black Death and Mongols Thematic Map
Map
Black Death and Mongols Thematic Map
This map will help students trace the relationships linking the Mongol Empire, long-distance trade, and the spread of the Black Death in the 14th century.
Medieval Trade Routes Thematic Map
Map
Medieval Trade Routes Thematic Map
This world map shows the main routes of the Silk Roads, and the many smaller systems surrounding it, from China to the Mediterranean.
Crusades Map, 1096–1221 CE
Map
Crusades Map, 1096–1221 CE
A regional map of the First through Fifth Crusades, showing crusader routes, religious divisions, and crusader states.
Revolutionary Geography
Revolutions remade the world. They also changed how we make maps, thanks to the advent of the nation-state. Use these maps to explore revolutions, enslavement, and abolition.
Empires, Enslavement, and Revolutions Thematic Map
Map
Empires, Enslavement, and Revolutions Thematic Map
A full-color thematic map of Empires, Enslavement, and Revolutions in 1750 CE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.
Geography: Revolutionary Map Timeline
Activity
Geography: Revolutionary Map Timeline
The maps in this activity will help you identify some of the most dramatic changes in political communities during the long nineteenth century.
Abolition in the Atlantic World Map
Map
Abolition in the Atlantic World Map
Use this map to trace the uneven path to abolition across the Atlantic World, connecting slave-trade bans and emancipation to rebellions and abolitionist movements.
Maps of Imperialism and Colonialism
During the long nineteenth century, imperialists redrew borders across the world. Use these maps and activity to see the results.
Triangular Trade in the Caribbean Map
Map
Triangular Trade in the Caribbean Map
This map reveals how European empires, commodities, trade routes, smuggling, and enslaved labor shaped the Caribbean economy in the eighteenth century.
Geography: Imperialism in Africa
Activity
Geography: Imperialism in Africa
Between 1880 and 1914, the shape of political communities across Africa transformed. These maps will help you understand what changed and why.
Colonization of Africa Map
Map
Colonization of Africa Map
This map shows the extent of European imperialism in Africa after the Berlin Conference (1885). The map includes resource extraction and narrative text.
Resources to Connect Climate Change and Geography
Geography is the study of the physical features of the Earth and how it has affected humanity. But it is also the study of humanity’s impact on the planet. These resources provide students with evidence and maps for understanding climate change.
Mapping a Climate Future
Activity
Mapping a Climate Future
Investigate data through climate maps to visualize what extreme heat looks like now, and what scientists predict it will look like in the future.
Climate Impacts: Sea-Level Rise
Article
Climate Impacts: Sea-Level Rise
This data exploration focuses on global sea-level rise—its connections to greenhouse gas emissions and how it is reshaping our world.
Data Investigation
Opener
Data Investigation
Maps, charts, and graphs are pretty common tools for understanding climate change. See what you can learn from one chart in this opening activity.
Community: Ask, Connect, Share
How do you use maps in your classroom?
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Unit 2 Mapping Summative
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How do you use maps in your AP World classroom?
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