The Atlantic through its cartographic representation

Abstract

Cartography has traditionally been an instrument used by man to get to know a territory without visiting it. The way territories are represented in maps allows us to have a real or slanted view of then. This fact can be proven by comparing diverse maps of the Atlantic Ocean made through the years, from antiquity to the present day. For centuries this ocean was a tenebrous space that slowed and limited the expansion of man, until, thanks to Columbus’s discoveries, it became a space that opened the door to prosperity. This paper contains a collection of maps that purport to present the Atlantic Ocean from different points of view, as well as reproducing a geographic characterization of the same.