SLC S22W1 / Digital Cartography Basics

Hello dear friends! I was so excited when I saw this course as one of the approved courses for this season. Geography was one of my favourite subjects while in high school, I am happy to continue my Geography course here.

Make a freehand map of your country (It can be on paper, a computer or on your cell phone, the only condition is that it must not be traced. That is to say: The map does not have to be perfect )

Within the freehand map that you made, locate where the capital of your country is and where the state/department/province where you live is.

I come from Akwa Ibom and I live in its capital city - and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria is Abuja.

Locate within the map you made some states/departments/provinces that you know by heart (Only those that you know/remember at that moment, do not deceive yourself by cheating)

There are 36 states in Nigeria. At the moment, I am only able to know the location of eight of them of eight of them. They are ; Lagos, Sokoto, Kaduna, Cross River, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abuja. I have only been to Lagos out of all these.

Mention 3 places in your country that you still don't know and that you would love to visit and why.

This is a tough one. There are a lot of places I haven't visited and known and would really love to visit. I will mention three.

Calabar would definitely be on the list. Though it shares boundaries with Akwa Ibom, I have never had the opportunity to visit. It is home to a lot of tourist attractions. I would love to see the slave trade center and Obudu Mountain Resorts. Calabar Carnival is always the talk of town, it would be nice to attend one.

Benue is referred to as the food basket of the nation. It is located at the east-central. Benue has a very fertile soil and has a lot of food. It's dominant food is yam. It would be amazing to visit a food- thriving state. I would also love to take pictures with the statue of the food basket. I have seen heard of it several times and it would be nice to see it physically.

Ekiti is located in the South Western part of Nigeria. From childhood, I have heard of the Ikogosi Warm Spring - two springs hot and cold meet there without mixing. I have heard that even when put in a cup, they do not mix. I would love to try it myself.

I would love to visit these places and even more if circumstances permit. Right now, it is risky to travel by road due to kidnappers and car hijackers and the solution is travelling by air which is quite expensive.

What is a map for you?

A map is a graphical representation of a place drawn on a flat surface, usually drawn to scale and contains key elements for easy identification of the map features. It is a collection of signs and symbols that are internationally recognised (conventional) to represent features and phenomena.

In your opinion, what are the most important elements to understand a map and why?

Title; without understanding the title, it would be difficult to have a basic knowledge of the map.

Scale; it will help to understand the relationship between the size of the map features as used in the map and the actual size of the features on the ground.

Conventional Signs; since they are universal, it would be impossible to read and interpret any map without having a proper knowledge of conventional signs.

Relative position; this would help to decipher the exact location of a place in a map.

In your opinion, is cartography important or not so important? Why?

I see cartography to be very essential. It is the knowledge of cartography that helps us navigate easily. For instance, in an unfamiliar location, GPS helps us to navigate our way.

It helps to display data visually like that of the outline of a country. It literally makes our lives easier.

It is useful in research because of the data compiled with the knowledge of cartography.

I am very glad that this course is one of the selected courses this season. I have enjoyed this week's course and I am anticipating next week's course. I would love to invite @goodybest,
@ulfatulrahmah and @eliany to participate.