West Virginia is
famed for its natural resources,
breathtaking sceneries, prosperous coal, mining, and manufacturing
industries, and colorful festivities that keep millions of visitors
coming back each year. These visitors are from neighboring states such
as Ohio and Pennsylvania as well as other countries.
If you are going to West
Virginia for the first time,
you will need a good map to
start with. A map is an accurate
two-dimensional depiction of a place where you want to go. It will help
you locate specific locations as it shows roads, highways, rivers and
boundaries. A map also
emphasizes relations between key landmarks in
the place.
Some maps come with the so-called geological maps,
typically found above the base map. The regular map usually has light
colors so it can be distinguished from the colorful geological map.
Each color in the geological map stands for a specific geologic unit, a
volume of a specific type of rock while the lines represent contacts
(where a geological unit is found), faults and folds.
You will most probably need a road map when you visit West Virginia for
the first time. A road map shows roads, locations,
directions and distances. It is also referred to as a navigational map,
which can be further classified into aeronautical maps, nautical maps,
railroad maps and community maps.
To be able to use a map, you must know how to read it.
Take note that the scale refers to the ratio between a small length on
a road map and the actual distance on the area being mapped. Scale can
be expressed in different ways. In most road maps, a scale is expressed
through a graphic or bar scale, a line that is subdivided to depict the
specific area.
If you want to know the distance between two counties in
West Virginia for example, Wheeling and Charleston you can use a ruler
to mark the distance between the two counties and position the ruler
along the graphic scale to determine the distance.
A West Virginia map,
however, may not give you all the
details you need if you are looking for a specific location in a county
or a city. You can use a county map or a city map that specifically
shows streets, roads, highways, buildings, schools, universities,
hospitals, waterways, bridges, historical and recreational places,
hotels and other places of interest.
West Virginia
lies wholly within the Appalachian Mountain range.
