The Earth is too large to draw on a map without reducing its size. This reduction is expressed as map scale, which is the ratio of the distance on a map to the actual distance on the surface of the Earth. As a result, a small-scale map displays a small amount of detail, but covers a large geographic area. A large-scale map shows a large amount of detail, but for a small area. Scale can be expressed graphically as a scale bar, or in writing using text or numeric forms: (i) Text: 1 inch = 24,000 inches OR 1 inch = 2,000 feet; or (ii) Numeric: 1:24,000.
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