Explore basemaps

One of the most fundamental parts of a map is the basemap, the background map that provides geographic context to data. Different basemaps can have various purposes and appearances. Some are political maps, which include information about manmade boundaries and features, like state borders, roads, and towns. Others highlight physical features like mountain ranges, rivers, and streams. In addition to providing contextual information, basemaps are also an important part of the map's cartography. The colors and labels on the basemap should help you show your data in an effective and aesthetic way. In this tutorial, you’ll explore several basemaps to decide which will be most useful for your mapping project.

In this tutorial you will learn to:

• Pan and zoom to navigate a map
• Change the basemap
• Identify features of a basemap

This tutorial was last tested on August 29, 2024.

Requirements

Use a map in 2D

A basemap is a reference map that can have data overlaid on it to visualize geographic information. First, you'll navigate around a map and change the basemap.

1. Open MapMaker.

   

   The basemap you're currently looking at is the National Geographic Style basemap. The National Geographic Style basemap is a political reference map. It includes political boundaries, major transportation routes, and cities.

   First, you'll pan the map to the country of Mexico. Panning means changing the view, or extent, to see different places on the map.

2. Pan to Mexico by clicking and dragging the map so Mexico is centered on the screen.

   

   You'll zoom in to better see Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. Zooming means changing the scale of a map to see more or less detail.

3. In the upper left corner of the map, click Zoom in.

   

   Note:

   You can also zoom in or out using the scroll wheel of your mouse or pinching your fingers together on a touch screen device or trackpad.

4. Zoom in more times and pan the map to explore Mexico City.

   As you explore, notice what kinds of information this basemap shows, like neighborhoods, transit stops, and parks. Political maps like the National Geographic Style map are useful for showing data about people and places. For example, this basemap may be used to show context for a map of the busiest roads in the city.

   Next, you'll use another kind of basemap to explore Washington, D.C.

5. Click Default map view to reset the map.

   

6. In the upper left corner of the map, click the Open search button. For Find address or place, type White House.

   

   As you type, suggested places appear.

7. Press Enter.

   The map zooms to the White House in Washington, D.C. At this scale, the basemap shows building footprints and the names of the different federal buildings. Next, you'll change the basemap to the Imagery (labels) map.

8. Close the Search result pop-up.
9. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click the Basemaps button.

   

   The Basemaps pane opens.

10. In the Basemaps pane, click Imagery (labels).

    

    The map changes to show the new basemap. The Imagery (labels) basemap combines satellite imagery with map labels and other features, like state and country boundaries.

    The Imagery (labels) basemap shows similar labels, boundaries, and other reference information to the National Geographic basemap. It also shows a more detailed picture of what is on the ground. Imagery basemaps are a good choice when you want to show additional context on your maps, such as where unlabeled features are or what ground cover or land use in an area is. Imagery basemaps can also show current conditions, such as the damage a hurricane or wildfire has done to an area.

11. Pan and zoom the map or use the Search bar to locate the country of France.
12. Zoom in to Paris, France and use the imagery and labels to locate the Eiffel Tower

    Hint: Look for the Parc du Champ de Mars, located in the 7th Arrondissement.

    Does the imagery make it easier or harder to find the monument?

    In this section, you used the National Geographic and Imagery basemaps to explore different places in the world to understand the kinds of features they might provide context for. Next, you'll open a map and learn how a basemap can help visualize data.

Open a map

Now, you'll open a map from the gallery and explore the basemap that was chosen for it. You'll also explore the data at different scales using bookmarks. Maps that show different data at different scales are called multiscale maps. When choosing or using basemaps, it's important to select one that shows relevant information at all scales.

1. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click the Open map button.

   

2. In the Open map pane, in the search bar, type Ethnicity.

   

3. On the map card for the Ethnicity in the United States map, click the Information button to read about the map.

   

4. Open the Ethnicity in the United States map by clicking the image of the map.

   The basemap that this map uses is much plainer than the others you've looked at. This basemap is called the Human Geography basemap. It provides a simple gray and white canvas that puts more focus on the data added to the map than the basemap.

5. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click the Bookmarks button.

   

   Note:

   If a map includes bookmarks, a blue icon appears in the upper right corner of the Bookmarks button.

   The Bookmarks pane appears.

6. In the Bookmarks pane, click the bookmark for Hawaii.

   

   The map zooms to Hawaii. To open the legend for the map, you'll open the Map layers pane. On the toolbar, the Map layers button has a blue icon, showing that the map has one data layer.

7. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click the Map layers button.

   

   The legend lists the data layers that are on your map with a description of what each symbol represents.

8. Zoom in to explore Honolulu.

   As you zoom in the scale of the data changes, providing a more detailed picture of the ethnicity of the residents of the island.

9. Click areas on the island and read the informational pop-up.

   

10. On the toolbar, click the Basemaps button and click another basemap, such as Black and White Outline or Topographic (with Contours and Hillshade) to change the basemap.

    How does the new basemap impact your ability to understand the ethnicity data?

    Basemaps should always help you better understand the data on top of them.

11. Refresh your browser to reset MapMaker.

Use a map in 3D

Next, you'll navigate a map in 3D. When you change from 2D to 3D, basemaps are shown on top of terrain.

1. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click the 3D button.

   

   The 2D map changes to a 3D globe.

2. On the globe, click and drag to pan and focus on a new location. Scroll your mouse wheel to zoom in or out.

   In the a 3D view, you can pan top to bottom, side-to-side, and around to spin and tilt the globe.

3. In the upper left corner of the map, click the Default map view button to return the globe to its original position.
4. Pan and zoom or use the search bar to locate the country of Nepal.
5. Zoom in until you can explore the Himalayan mountain range.
6. From the upper left corner of the map, switch from Pan to Rotate by clicking Toggle to pan or rotate in 3D.

   

7. On the map, right-click and hold to adjust the angle of the map so you can see the relief of the mountains.

   

   Note:

   If you're on a touch device, you can place two fingers on the map and rotate them to move the map. You can tilt the map by dragging two fingers up or down on the map. If you're using a touchpad, use two fingers to click and rotate them to move the map. You can tilt the map using two fingers, clicking, and dragging them up or down on the touchpad.

8. Click or tap Default map view to reset the map.
9. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click the Basemaps button.
10. In the Basemap pane, click the 3D Buildings basemap.

    

    The basemap loads. This basemap is a topographic basemap, which shows a combination of natural features (like mountains and rivers) and human features (like cities, roads, and administrative boundaries). It also shows the location and height of buildings. The buildings on this map were contributed to OpenStreetMap, a crowd source mapping platform.

11. Close the Basemaps pane.
12. Search for Buckingham Palace and press Enter.
13. Use what you've learned about zooming, panning, and rotating to explore Buckingham Palace and nearby landmarks, like the London Eye.

    

In this tutorial, you learned how to explore a map by panning, zooming, and using bookmarks. You also changed basemaps to see the world with different geographic context. Lastly, you changed the map from 2D to 3D and learned how to navigate a 3D scene.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• The Ethnicity in the United States map was created by Esri using data from the United States Census Bureau.
• National Geographic Style Map sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
• Imagery Hybrid map sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
• Topographic map sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, Intermap, METI, OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community