Planiglobium Terrestre Minus [Global Map of the World]

By configuring the continents in the manner appearing on this map, Europe and North America are shown near the center of the map. It was drawn by a European (Western) cartographer, and depicts the earth's hemispheres in the opposite manner from those drawn by Eastern cartographers. The decorative elements of this map depict opposite elements of nature: the moon and the sun, seen at the top; a volcano and rainbow at the bottom. Celestial figures at the top (north) blow cold wind toward the Northern Hemisphere, while watersouts swirl in southern waters below.

The delineation of "north" at the top of a map and "south" at the bottom has no relation to the actual position of the earth as a polanet oin space. This depiction of land masses conveys a message of superiority for areas located in the Northern Hemisphere. This perspective has becaome the customary arrangement of the continents of South and North America, the north and south of the North American continet, and the north and south circum-Caribbean region. Known as the cartographic "rule of ethnocentricity," the placement of one's own territory at the center of a worls map is an almost universal feature of cartographic devices.