![General Map of Switzerland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/General_Map_of_Switzerland.jpg)
The National Maps of Switzerland, also referred to as the Swisstopo maps, are a set of official
map series designed, edited and distributed by
Swisstopo, the Swiss Federal Office of Topography. Each map series is based on an oblique,
conformal, cylindrical projection (
Mercator projection), with a Swiss
Coordinate system (
CH1903 +). All maps are updated in a complete cycle of about six years.
In 1938, the Federal Office of Topography started issuing new map sheets, which were intended to succeed the old
Dufour and
Siegfried Maps. They first appeared in 1:50,000
scale, and from 1952 also in 1:25,000 scale. In addition, further
generalisations were made in smaller scales. In each scale, the whole of Switzerland was covered. In 1979, with the issuance of the last 1:25,000 scale sheet, the work was completed.
The map sheets have been produced in several different versions: topographic maps, tourist maps, special maps (for aerospace, geology, etc.). They are now also available on electronic media. The topographic maps have been published in the following
scale series:
The normal map sheets are arranged in a grid pattern. In addition, there are composition maps (i.e. extending over sheet borders) covering
urban agglomeration
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...
s, or tourist areas. Many of 1:50,000 scale map sheets are also available as
hiking map
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...
s (with highlighted trails) or as
ski tour maps.
The Federal Office of Topography also publishes the following digital products:
*National Map 1:25,000 on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
(Swiss Map 25);
*National Map 1:50,000 on DVD (Swiss Map 50);
*National Map 1:100,000 on
CD-ROM (Swiss Map 100); and
*For professional applications:
**
Digital landscape models as
pixel maps for all scales;
**Digital landscape models as
vector data based on the 1:25,000 (VECTOR25) and 1:200,000 (VECTOR200) topographic map sheets; and
**
Digital elevation model
A digital elevation model (DEM) or digital surface model (DSM) is a 3D computer graphics representation of elevation data to represent terrain or overlaying objects, commonly of a planet, moon, or asteroid. A "global DEM" refers to a discrete g ...
s with a grid size of (DTM25) and (DOM / DTM – AV).
For all of these maps, the
Pierres du Niton rocks, in the port of
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
, are the
reference point for height measurements.
In 2005, a proposal for the spelling of local names (field names) on the national map in a manner closer to the way in which they are pronounced was made available for the
formal Swiss consultation process. Many national map users are opposed to this proposal.
[Lokalnamen: ''http://www.lokalnamen.ch''. (Information with, ''inter alia'', a chronology on the spelling of place names, as at January 2009.) ]
References
External links
*{{commons category-inline, Swisstopo maps
map.geo.admin.ch- Geographical portal of the Swiss Confederation
Map series
Map series of Switzerland