What does map scale mean?

Map scale is the relationship between a distance portrayed on a map and the same distance on the Earth (Dana, 1999). Map scale is shown as a representative fraction of distance, such as 1:50,000 (1 unit on the map represents 50,000 units on the ground) or 1:250,000 (1 unit on the map represents 250,000 units on the ground). The terms "large" and "small" refer to the relative magnitude of the representative fraction. Since 1:250,000 is a smaller fraction than 1:50,000 the former is said to be a smaller scale.

Here are the most common map scales for maps over foreign territories:

• 1:1,000,000
• 1:500,000
• 1:250,000
• 1:200,000
• 1:100,000
• 1:50,000
• 1:25,000
• 1:10,000