What is cartography?

Cartography is fundamentally defined as the art and science of making maps. This discipline encompasses a variety of techniques and methodologies used to represent geographical information visually. Cartographers utilize both artistic skills and scientific principles to create maps that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also accurate and useful for navigation, planning, and analysis of spatial data.

Maps produced through cartography can serve multiple purposes, including but not limited to, illustrating physical landscapes, showing political boundaries, displaying demographic information, or highlighting various geographical phenomena. The effective communication of information through maps relies on understanding the relationship between visual elements and the geographical features they represent, which is a central tenet of cartography.

For this reason, the correct answer focuses on the multifaceted nature of map-making, which combines both art and scientific methodologies, making it a unique and valuable field within geospatial studies.