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scale
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ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground
Scale is the ratio that tells you how distances on a map compare to actual distances in the real world — for example, one inch on a map might represent one mile on the ground. It matters because without knowing the scale, you can't tell how far apart places actually are or how large an area really is.
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A graphical or bar scale. A map would also usually give its scale numerically ("1:50,000", for instance, means that one cm on the map represents 50,000cm of real space, which is 500 meters) A bar scale with the nominal scale expressed as "1:600 000", meaning 1 cm on the map corresponds to 600,000 cm=6 km on the ground.
The scale of a map is the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. This simple concept is complicated by the curvature of the Earth's surface, which forces scale to vary across a map. Because of this variation, the concept of scale becomes meaningful in two distinct ways.