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Best World Map

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Rankings use category fit, feature coverage, pricing signals, public reception, and recency. Affiliate relationships do not affect scores.

0.0 - 10.0
Best 1 Martin Waldseemüller

Martin Waldseemüller was a 16th-century German cartographer renowned for his meticulous and innovative maps. His 1507 world map is significant as it introduced the name "America" – initially applied to South America – based on the indigenous name of the region, Terra del Brasile. Primarily used by s...

2 Muhammad al-Idrisi

Muhammad al-Idrisi was a prominent 12th-century Arab cartographer renowned for his creation of the Tabula Rogeriana. This world map, commissioned by King Roger II of Sicily, represents a significant advancement in geographical knowledge during the medieval period. Al-Idrisi’s work utilized existing...

3 Fra Mauro
Fra Mauro

Fra Mauro was a 15th-century Venetian monk who created the Fra Mauro map around 1450, considered the greatest medieval map of the world before the Age of Discovery.

4 Jia Dan
Jia Dan

Jia Dan was a 8th-century Chinese cartographer and scholar notable for creating the Hainei Huayi Tu, an extensive map of the Chinese empire and beyond.

5 Hecataeus of Miletus

Hecataeus of Miletus was an early Greek geographer whose 6th-century BC work Periodos Ges created one of the first known maps of the inhabited world.

6 Diogo Ribeiro

Diogo Ribeiro was a 16th-century Portuguese cartographer working for Spain who created the 1527 Padrón Real, the official master map of newly discovered lands.

7 Al-Masudi
Al-Masudi

Al-Masudi was a 10th-century Arab historian and geographer whose comprehensive work Muruj al-Dhahab documented lands from the Middle East to China.

8 Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli

Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was a 15th-century Italian mathematician whose 1474 world map concept inspired Christopher Columbus to seek a western route to Asia.

9 Henricus Martellus

Henricus Martellus was a 15th-century German cartographer working in Florence, known for his 1490 world map that influenced Columbus and later explorers.

10 Sebastian Cabot

Sebastian Cabot was a 16th-century Venetian and English explorer and cartographer who created influential early maps of the New World.

11 Giovanni Matteo Contarini

Giovanni Matteo Contarini was a 15th-century Italian cartographer known for his 1506 world map, the earliest surviving map to depict the New World.

12 Francesco Rosselli

Francesco Rosselli was a 15th-century Italian miniaturist and cartographer who created a landmark 1508 printed world map featuring the discoveries of Columbus.

13 Giovanni Leardo

Giovanni Leardo was a 15th-century Venetian mapmaker notable for producing several surviving mappaemundi, including the 1452 world map housed in New York.

14 Andreas Walsperger

Andreas Walsperger was an Austrian monk who created a notable circular mappamundi in 1448, reflecting medieval cosmological views combined with contemporary geographic knowledge.

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