A globe is a

spherical A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, of some other

celestial body An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are of ...

, or of the

celestial sphere In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...

. Globes serve purposes similar to

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

s, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of Earth is called a terrestrial globe. A model globe of the celestial sphere is called a ''

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. ...

''. A globe shows details of its subject. A terrestrial globe shows

landmass A landmass, or land mass, is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not noticeably broken up by oceans. The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea, such as a continent or a large island. In the fiel ...

es and

water bodies A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rare ...

. It might show nations and major cities and the network of latitude and longitude lines. Some have raised

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

to show mountains and other large landforms. A celestial globe shows notable stars, and may also show positions of other prominent astronomical objects. Typically, it will also divide the celestial sphere into

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

s. The word ''globe'' comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''globus'', meaning "

sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

". Globes have a long history. The first known mention of a globe is from

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, describing the Globe of Crates from about 150 BC. The oldest surviving terrestrial globe is the

Erdapfel __NOTOC__ The ; ) is a terrestrial globe in diameter, produced by Martin Behaim from 1490 to 1492. The Erdapfel is the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. It is constructed of a laminated linen ball in two halves, reinforced with wood and over ...

, made by

Martin Behaim Martin Behaim (6 October 1459 – 29 July 1507), also known as and by various forms of , was a German textile merchant and cartographer. He served John II of Portugal as an adviser in matters of navigation and participated in a voyage to Wes ...

in 1492. The oldest surviving celestial globe sits atop the

Farnese Atlas The Farnese Atlas is a 2nd-century CE Ancient Rome, Roman marble sculpture of Atlas (mythology), Atlas holding up a celestial globe. Probably a copy of an earlier work of the Hellenistic period, it is the oldest extant statue of Atlas (mythology) ...

, carved in the 2nd century

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Terrestrial and planetary

Flat maps are created using a

map projection In cartography, a map projection is any of a broad set of Transformation (function) , transformations employed to represent the curved two-dimensional Surface (mathematics), surface of a globe on a Plane (mathematics), plane. In a map projection, ...

that inevitably introduces an increasing amount of distortion the larger the area that the map shows. A globe is the only representation of the Earth that does not distort either the shape or the size of large features – land masses, bodies of water, etc. The

Earth's circumference Earth's circumference is the distance around Earth. Measured around the equator, it is . Measured passing through the poles, the circumference is . Treating the Earth as a sphere, its circumference would be its single most important measuremen ...

is quite close to 40 million metres. Many globes are made with a circumference of one metre, so they are models of the Earth at a scale of 1:40 million. In imperial units, many globes are made with a

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

of one

foot The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up o ...

(about 30 cm), yielding a circumference of 3.14 feet (about 96 cm) and a scale of 1:42 million. Globes are also made in many other sizes. Some globes have surface texture showing

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

bathymetry Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors ('' seabed topography''), river floors, or lake floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of wate ...

. In these, elevations and depressions are purposely exaggerated, as they otherwise would be hardly visible. For example, one manufacturer produces a three dimensional raised relief globe with a diameter (equivalent to a 200 cm circumference, or approximately a scale of 1:20 million) showing the highest mountains as over tall, which is about 57 times higher than the correct scale of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

. Most modern globes are also imprinted with parallels and meridians, so that one can tell the approximate

coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine and standardize the Position (geometry), position of the Point (geometry), points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as ...

of a specific location. Globes may also show the boundaries of countries and their names. Many terrestrial globes have one celestial feature marked on them: a diagram called the

analemma In astronomy, an analemma (; ) is a diagram showing the position of the Sun in the sky as seen from a fixed location on Earth at the same Solar time#Mean solar time, mean solar time over the course of a year. The change of position is a result ...

, which shows the apparent motion of the Sun in the sky during a year. Globes generally show north at the top, but many globes allow the axis to be swiveled so that southern portions can be viewed conveniently. This capability also permits exploring the Earth from different orientations to help counter the north-up bias caused by conventional map presentation.

Celestial

Celestial globes depict star positions while excluding the Sun, Moon, and planets due to their variable locations, though they mark the ecliptic—the Sun’s apparent path. A structural challenge arises from the difference between Earth’s perspective (a gnomonic projection from the celestial sphere’s center) and the globe’s external orthographic projection, which reverses constellations. Transparent globes introduce distortions when viewed externally, whereas opaque versions with reversed constellations and text are designed for mirror reflection to restore correct orientation. Historically, celestial globes reflected geocentric models, such as Ptolemy’s 2nd-century system using epicycles and equants to explain planetary motion. Medieval astronomers, influenced by his work, constructed globes to model star arrangements under the assumption of a static Earth encircled by rotating celestial spheres. This framework persisted until Copernicus proposed a heliocentric system, redefining humanity’s understanding of cosmic structure.

History

The

sphericity of the Earth Spherical Earth or Earth's curvature refers to the approximation of the figure of the Earth as a sphere. The earliest documented mention of the concept dates from around the 5th century BC, when it appears in the writings of Greek philosophers. ...

was established by

Greek astronomy Ancient Greek astronomy is the astronomy written in the Greek language during classical antiquity. Greek astronomy is understood to include the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek, Hellenistic period, Hellenistic, Roman Empire, Greco-Roman, and Late an ...

in the 3rd century BC, and the earliest terrestrial globe appeared from that period. The earliest known example is the one constructed by

Crates of Mallus Crates of Mallus (, ''Krátēs ho Mallṓtēs''; century BC) was a Greek grammarian and Stoic philosopher, leader of the literary school and head of the library of Pergamum. He was described as the Crates from Mallus to distinguish him fr ...

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

(now

Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

in modern-day Turkey), in the mid-2nd century BC. No terrestrial globes from Antiquity have survived. An example of a surviving

is part of a Hellenistic sculpture, called the

, surviving in a 2nd-century AD Roman copy in the Naples Archaeological Museum, Italy.Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2003. Early terrestrial globes depicting the entirety of the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

were constructed in the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

. During the Middle Ages in Christian Europe, while there are writings alluding to the idea that the earth was spherical, no known attempts at making a globe took place before the fifteenth century. The earliest extant terrestrial globe was made in 1492 by

(1459–1537) with help from the painter Georg Glockendon. Behaim was a German mapmaker, navigator, and merchant. Working in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, Germany, he called his globe the "Nürnberg Terrestrial Globe." It is now known as the

. Before constructing the globe, Behaim had traveled extensively. He sojourned in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

from 1480, developing commercial interests and mingling with explorers and scientists. He began to construct his globe after his return to Nürnberg in 1490. China made many mapping advancements such as sophisticated land surveys and the invention of the magnetic compass. However, no record of terrestrial globes in China exists until a globe was introduced by the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

astronomer, Jamal ad-Din, in 1276. Another early globe, the

Hunt–Lenox Globe ] The Hunt–Lenox Globe or Lenox Globe, dating from about 1508, is the second- or third-oldest known terrestrial globe, after the Erdapfel of Martin Behaim (1492) and the Ostrich Egg Globe (claimed 1504). The Hunt-Lenox Globe is housed by the Ra ...

, ca. 1510, is thought to be the source of the phrase ''Hic Sunt Dracones'', or "

Here be dragons "Here be dragons" () means dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of a medieval practice of putting illustrations of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures on uncharted areas of maps where potential dangers were though ...

". A similar

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

-sized globe made from two halves of an

ostrich egg The egg of the ostrich (genus ''Struthio'') is the largest of any living bird (being exceeded in size by those of the extinct elephant bird genus '' Aepyornis''). The shell has a long history of use by humans as a container and for decorative ...

was found in 2012 and is believed to date from 1504. It may be the oldest globe to show the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. Stefaan Missine, who analyzed the globe for the Washington Map Society journal ''Portolan'', said it was "part of an important European collection for decades." After a year of research in which he consulted many experts, Missine concluded the Hunt–Lenox Globe was a

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William ...

of the egg globe. A facsimile globe showing America was made by

Martin Waldseemüller Martin Waldseemüller ( – 16 March 1520) was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Hellenized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. His collaborator Matthias Ring ...

in 1507. Another "remarkably modern-looking" terrestrial globe of the Earth was constructed by Taqi al-Din at the

Constantinople observatory of Taqi ad-Din The Constantinople observatory of Taqi ad-Din, founded in Constantinople (today Istanbul) by Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf in 1577, was one of the largest astronomical observatories in the pre-modern world. However, it only existed for a few y ...

during the 1570s. The world's first seamless

was built by Mughal scientists under the patronage of

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

. ''Globus'' IMP, electro-mechanical devices including five-inch globes have been used in Soviet and Russian spacecraft from 1961 to 2002 as navigation instruments. In 2001, the TMA version of the

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...

replaced this instrument with a digital map.

Manufacture

Traditionally, globes were manufactured by gluing a printed paper map onto a sphere, often made from wood. The most common type has long, thin gores (strips) of paper that narrow to a point at the poles, small disks cover over the inevitable irregularities at these points. The more gores there are, the less stretching and crumpling is required to make the paper map fit the sphere. This method of globe making was illustrated in 1802 in an engraving in The English Encyclopedia by George Kearsley. Modern globes are often made from

thermoplastic A thermoplastic, or thermosoftening plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains as ...

. Flat, plastic disks are printed with a distorted map of one of the Earth's

hemispheres Hemisphere may refer to: In geometry * Hemisphere (geometry), a half of a sphere As half of Earth or any spherical astronomical object * A hemispheres of Earth, hemisphere of Earth ** Northern Hemisphere ** Southern Hemisphere ** Eastern Hemisphe ...

. This is placed in a machine which molds the disk into a hemispherical shape. The hemisphere is united with its opposite counterpart to form a complete globe. Usually a globe is mounted so that its rotation axis is 23.5° (0.41 rad) from vertical, which is the angle the Earth's rotation axis deviates from perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. This mounting makes it easy to visualize how

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

s change. In the 1800s small pocket globes (less than 3 inches) were status symbols for gentlemen and educational toys for rich children.

Examples

Sorted in decreasing sizes: * The

Unisphere The Unisphere is a spherical stainless steel Globe, representation of the Earth at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York. The globe was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Commissione ...

Flushing Meadows Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, Englan ...

, New York, at the Billie Jean King USTA Tennis Center, at in diameter, is the world's largest geographical globe. This corresponds to a scale of about 1:350 000. (There are larger spherical structures, such as the

Cinesphere Cinesphere is the world's first permanent IMAX movie theatre, located on the grounds of Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed in 1971, it is the largest IMAX theatre in Ontario. The theatre has both IMAX 70mm and IMAX with Laser ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, but this does not have geographical or astronomical markings.) *

Wyld's Great Globe Wyld's Great Globe (also known as Wyld's Globe or Wyld's Monster Globe) was an attraction situated in London's Leicester Square between 1851 and 1862, constructed by James Wyld (1812–1887), a distinguished mapmaker and former Member of Parli ...

, located in London's

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

from 1851-1862, was a hollow globe 60 feet 4 inches (18.39 m) in diameter designed by mapmaker

James Wyld James Wyld (1812–1887) was a British geographer and map-seller, best known for Wyld's Great Globe. He was the eldest son of James Wyld the Elder (1790–1836) and Eliza (née Legg). In 1838, he married Anne, the daughter of John Hester, a ...

. Visitors could climb stairs to view a plaster of Paris model of the Earth's surface, complete with mountains and rivers to scale. *

Eartha Eartha is the world's largest rotating and revolving globe, located within the former headquarters of the DeLorme mapping corporation in Yarmouth, Maine. Garmin purchased the company and the building in 2016. The globe weighs approximately 5,600 ...

, the world's largest rotating globe with a diameter of , located at the

DeLorme DeLorme Publishing Company is a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company's main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and rec ...

headquarters in

Yarmouth, Maine Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland, Maine, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, Maine, North Yarmouth, it was part of the Massachusetts ...

. This corresponds to a scale of about 1:1.1 million. Eartha was constructed in 1998. * The P-I Globe, a 13.5-ton 30-foot (9.1 m) neon globe with rotating "It's in the P-I" words and an 18-foot eagle, was made in 1948 for the

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

's headquarters. It was moved to the newspaper's new location in 1986. * The Great Globe at Swanage is a stone sphere that stands at Durlston Castle within

Durlston Country Park Durlston Country Park is a 320-acre country park and nature reserve stretching along the coast of the Isle of Purbeck on the outskirts of Swanage in Dorset, England. The park is a popular destination for tourists to enjoy the walks, views, visi ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Measuring 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter and weighing 40 tons, this intricately carved globe showcases the continents, oceans, and specific regions of the world. Crafted from Portland stone, it spans about 3 meters (10 ft) in diameter.

Gallery

File:Taschenglobus.jpg, A 1716 pocket terrestrial globe with celestial globe case. File:Topview 1765globe.jpg, Top view of a 1765 globe. File:JostBurgi-MechanisedCelestialGlobe1594.jpg, Mechanised 1594 celestial globe. File:Globusuhr 1586.jpg, Detail of a 1586 mechanised celestial globe. File:Globe in Japan 2018 12 2.webm, Spinning a globe written in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

File:Niesten Mars globe segments.jpg, 19th century map of Mars in flat printed gores, to be wrapped around a globe. File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - Museum - Exhibition Earth 08 - Huge globe with Africa showing, overview.jpg, Exhibit with multiple globes of the earth, each conveying various information. File:Unisphere-cc.jpg, The

, the largest geographical globe. File:Globenmuseum Vienna 20091010 121.JPG, Example of an

Armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines o ...

. File:Globenmuseum Vienna 20091010 404.JPG, Globe of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. File:Militaergeographisches Institut Globus Wien DSC 10171w.jpg, Globe used as a decorative architectural element. File:MAN Atlante fronte 1040572.JPG,

, ancient Roman sculpture of

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

holding up a celestial globe. File:Now to test the safety razor -Bradley.png, Cartoon of globe

anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

as human.

References

External links

ppmglobe – generate strips to glue onto a sphereBehind the scenes at London's globe-making workshop – a photo essay
(August 2017), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' {{Authority control Map types Spheres Articles containing video clips Science education materials