Globe vs. Map

Main Difference

The main difference between Globe and Map is that the Globe is a scale model of a celestial body and Map is a visual representation of an area.

• Globe

  A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve similar purposes to maps, but unlike maps, do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A globe of Earth is called a terrestrial globe. A globe of the celestial sphere is called a celestial globe.

  A globe shows details of its subject. A terrestrial globe shows land masses and water bodies. It might show nations and prominent cities and the network of latitude and longitude lines. Some have raised relief to show mountains. A celestial globe shows stars, and may also show positions of other prominent astronomical objects. Typically it will also divide the celestial sphere up into constellations.

  The word “globe” comes from the Latin word globus, meaning “sphere”. Globes have a long history. The first known mention of a globe is from Strabo, describing the Globe of Crates from about 150 BC. The oldest surviving terrestrial globe is the Erdapfel, wrought by Martin Behaim in 1492. The oldest surviving celestial globe sits atop the Farnese Atlas, carved in the 2nd century Roman Empire.

• Map

  A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.

  Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although most commonly used to depict geography, maps may represent any space, real or imagined, without regard to context or scale, such as in brain mapping, DNA mapping, or computer network topology mapping. The space being mapped may be two dimensional, such as the surface of the earth, three dimensional, such as the interior of the earth, or even more abstract spaces of any dimension, such as arise in modeling phenomena having many independent variables.

  Although the earliest maps known are of the heavens, geographic maps of territory have a very long tradition and exist from ancient times. The word “map” comes from the medieval Latin Mappa mundi, wherein mappa meant napkin or cloth and mundi the world. Thus, “map” became the shortened term referring to a two-dimensional representation of the surface of the world.

• Globe (noun)

  the earth

  “goods from all over the globe”

• Globe (noun)

  a spherical representation of the earth or of the constellations with a map on the surface.

• Globe (noun)

  a spherical or rounded object

  “orange trees clipped into giant globes”

• Globe (noun)

  a glass sphere protecting a light

  “a security light with a frosted glass globe”

• Globe (noun)

  a drinking glass shaped approximately like a sphere

  “a brandy globe”

• Globe (noun)

  a golden orb as an emblem of sovereignty

  “a female figure holding a sceptre and globe”

• Globe (noun)

  a lightbulb.

• Globe (verb)

  form (something) into a globe

  “there, in miniature, the world was globed like a fruit”