turned against the Communists.
Mao fought back.
Mao set up a Communist base in southeastern
China. The Nationalists attacked
it. Mao then led his forces, called the
Red Army, on a journey called the Long
March. In 1935 they arrived at a new
base in the northwest.
In 1937 the Communists and the
Nationalists joined forces to fight the
Japanese, who had invaded China. The
Japanese were defeated in 1945. Then
Mao’s forces again fought the Nationalists.
The Communists won in 1949.
Mao formed the People’s Republic of
China and became its chairman (leader).
Chairman Mao
Mao tried to transform China’s
economy. In 1958 he started a program
called the Great Leap Forward. Among
other changes, he made peasants work
on huge farms called communes. The
program failed. Farm production went
down so much that 20 million people
starved to death.
In 1966 Mao began a movement called
the Cultural Revolution. His goal was to
strengthen the Communists’ hold on
China. Mao shut down the schools and
formed groups of young people called
Red Guards. The Red Guards attacked
people who disagreed with the government.
They also destroyed much property.
The Cultural Revolution weakened
China. Even so, it continued as long as
Mao lived. He died in Beijing on September
9, 1976.
#More to explore
Chiang Kai-shek • China
• Communism
Map and Globe
A map is a drawing of all or part of
Earth’s surface. Its basic purpose is to
Mao Zedong
48 Map and Globe BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
show where things are. Maps may show
visible features, such as rivers and lakes,
forests, buildings, and roads. They may
also show things that cannot be seen,
such as boundaries and temperatures.
Most maps are drawn on a flat surface.
A map displayed on a round surface is
called a globe.
Types of Maps and Globes
The most familiar kinds of maps are
topographic and political maps. Topographic
maps show the location and
shape of features on Earth’s surface.
These often include natural features,
such as mountains and lakes. They can
also include things that humans have
built, such as roads, bridges, tunnels,
and railroads. Political maps show the
boundaries of countries, states, provinces,
counties, and cities. Most maps
combine features of both topographic
and political maps.
Globes provide the same kinds of information
that flat maps do. Because Earth
is almost round, a globe represents it
best. A globe shows Earth as it looks
when seen from outer space.
Scale
A map is always smaller than the area it
represents. Most maps include something
called a scale to show how much
smaller the map is. The scale shows how
distances on the map are related to the
actual distances.
Map scale can be shown in a number of
ways. The simplest way is a graphic
scale. A graphic scale is a ruled line or
bar that is usually marked off in miles or
kilometers. Such a scale can be used to
measure distances on the map.
People can learn about geography by
studying a globe.
Globes can represent planets other than
Earth. An astronomer, or person who studies
outer space, helped to make a globe of
the planet Mars in 1892.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Map and Globe 49
Some maps use a mathematical expression
called a ratio to describe scale. A
ratio is a written way of showing the
relationship of two amounts to each
other. For example, 1:50,000 is a ratio.
If a map has a scale ratio of 1:50,000 it
means that one unit on the map is equal
to 50,000 of the same units on the
ground. If the unit of measurement is a
centimeter, then one centimeter on the
map equals 50,000 centimeters (500
meters) on the ground.
Finding a Place
Any place on Earth can be located using
a system called latitude and longitude.
Latitude and longitude are sets of imaginary
lines that circle Earth. Lines of latitude
run east and west. Lines of
longitude run north and south. They are
often printed on maps, and they each
have a number. Any place can be
described by the two numbers that tell
where a particular line of longitude
crosses a particular line of latitude.
Maps often include a legend, a compass rose, and a scale. The legend is a list of symbols
used on the map. The compass rose shows which way is north on the map. The scale
shows how distances on the map are related to the actual distances.
50 Map and Globe BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Some maps are divided into sections
that are like squares on a checkerboard.
Rows across may be lettered “A,” “B,”
“C,” and so on. Rows that go up and
down may be numbered “1,” “2,” “3,”
and so on. These maps often have an
index that tells where to find a place by
using the letters and numbers. If the
index says a place is located at “B 2,” for
example, it can be found on the map in
the area where the “B” and “2” rows
cross.
Map Symbols
In the past mapmakers used drawings to
show where things such as castles and
mountains were located. The drawings
were large so they could be clearly seen.
Over time maps were made more
simple. Mapmakers replaced pictures
with symbols. Each symbol represents
one particular thing. A map may have
different symbols for cities, rivers, lakes,
roads, railroad tracks, and so on.
