File:Imperial Federation, map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886.jpg

From RationalWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Original file(1,128 × 848 pixels, file size: 376 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

This file is from Wikimedia Commons and may be used by other projects. The description on its file description page there is shown below.

Description
English: Zoom into this map at http://maps.bpl.org.

Author: Colomb, J. C. R. Publisher: MacClure & Co. Date: 1886. Location: Great Britain

Scale: Scale not given ; Call Number: G5730 1886.C6

Everything about the design of this elaborately decorated world map glorifies the late-19th-century British Empire. Cartographically it used a Mercator projection centered on the Greenwich Prime Meridian, placing Great Britain just above the map's central focal point. The Greenwich Prime Meridian (near London) was adopted as the international standard in October 1884. The British Isles, as well as all of the British colonies spreading out to the east and the west, were highlighted with red, while other geographical areas were left blank with only a minimum number of place names. In addition, an inset box was placed near each of the major colonies, listing statistics about geographical area, population, and trade. The words "Freedom, Fraternity, Federation," suggesting a peaceful co-existence within the British Empire, were prominently placed along the map's top margin, but the remainder of the map's illustrations imply "colonialism." At the bottom center Britannia is seated on top of the world ruling over her subjects, represented by a variety of animals and costumed figures. India, quickly identified by an elephant and a tiger, appears in the lower left corner, while Australia, including a kangaroo and a sheep, is shown in the lower right. Using the Mercator projection in constructing this thematic map may have not been the most appropriate choice because it greatly exaggerates the size of Canada. However, since this projection is best used for navigational purposes, it was a reasonable choice. Considering the British Empire thrived on ocean-going transportation, the use of this projection would have provided a familiar image for the British public.
Date
Source Flickr: Imperial Federation, map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886
Author http://maps.bpl.org
Permission
(Reusing this file)
Checked copyright icon.svg This image, which was originally posted to Flickr.com, was uploaded to Commons using Flickr upload bot on 05:37, 20 July 2011 (UTC) by (talk). On that date it was licensed under the license below.
w:en:Creative Commons
attribution
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
You are free:
  • to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
  • to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
  • attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current14:51, 7 December 2011Thumbnail for version as of 14:51, 7 December 20111,128 × 848 (376 KB)AnonMooslosslessly cropping

The following page links to this file:

Metadata

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Views
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support