Consider a geographical map, e.g. a street map or satellite map, overlaid with some data, e.g. crime density or distance to closest voting booth.
The former part is only used to orient the reader, so that he knows which part of the map corresponds to which geographical location. The latter part contains the actual data that the author wishes to visualize.
What are these two parts called?
Best Answer
In ArcGIS world we would be talking about basemap:
Or in other words:
Or in a nutshell:
In contrast, they use term operational information for data that is overlayed on the basemap itself.
WorldAtlas also uses basemap term:
Together with Wikipedia (although with 'base map' spelling), Garmin GPS manufacturer, matplotlib Python graphing package, data.govt.nz portal and Swiss Federal Statistical Office just to name a few.