The Role of Cartography in the (GSDI) World

We would like to start with the important historian of cartography the Egyptian Prince Youssouf Kamal (1882-1952), editor of the Monumenta cartographica Africae et Aegypti (Cairo, 1926-51), which, in its 10 volumes showed the high level of Muslim cartography in the Middle Ages. It is not only based on Ptolemy, but also had original contributions, with works like the World map by al-Idrisi (see figure 1) and the Atlas of Islam (an atlas consisting of a series of maps that together represented all Muslim countries) by cartographers like alIstakhri, al-Masudi, Ibn Hawkal and al-Biruni. The maps in these atlases are, to an important degree, characterized by their topological structure. They very much catered for the linear mode of travel that was customary in those days, and so they were very much adapted to their function. The offer of geospatial information must always be governed by the specific demand but also by the nature of the terrain, or of the distribution of the population that inhabits the country.