What are the historical reasons for the conventional map orientation?

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The convention was established by Ptolemy (AD 90 – c. AD 168) in his main work, Geography. The following is a 15^th century reconstruction of Ptolemy's world map:

It's an arbitrary decision, and several reversed maps exist. There are also maps that don't follow a standard orientation, some examples are T and O maps, polar maps, and Dymaxion/Fuller maps. Interestingly the iconic 1972 Blue Marble photograph, taken by the Apollo 17 crew, was reversed to fit the traditional view.

Further reading:

On maps, why is north always up?
The Upsidedown Map Page
Cartography article on Wikipedia

yannis 14742

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Source: stackoverflow.com

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