Which color is most commonly found on a world map?

Social Studies · Middle School · Thu Feb 04 2021

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The most commonly found color on a world map is blue. This is because the color blue is often used to represent bodies of water such as oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes, which cover about 71% of the Earth's surface. Additionally, different shades of blue might be used to indicate varying depths of water.

On a standard political map, where countries are delineated by borders, you'll see a variety of colors used to distinguish the countries from one another; however, blue is typically dominant because of its use to depict water. The choice of color for each country is usually made to maximize contrast and does not follow any specific rule or pattern; it is more about cartographic aesthetics and ease of distinguishing different regions. Besides political maps, there are also physical maps which show physical landscape features like mountains, plains, and plateaus. In these maps, color is used to depict different elevations and types of terrain. The colors follow a logical sequence representing elevation from sea level, with green usually showing lower elevations progressing to browns for higher elevations, and white or gray for the highest elevations like mountain peaks.