Wrong maps – myth or reality?

It turns out that during the Soviet Union topographic maps designed for common people were deliberately made with errors. Going to point B, a man, unaware of these errors, constantly checked the map with the compass and found himself... not where he needed. The compass did not lie - lied the map. Moreover, the traveler often did not find the locality indicated on the map. In place of a pure river suddenly was a murky swamp, where a field was indicated there was a fur wood. It was enough to feel at a loss. Topographic maps were plotted in a special way: if they get into wrong hands, then ... Thus appeared "spy" maps that run the state into money. But spies did not use wrong maps – they preferred correct classified one.

- Today, the situation has changed, - says Viktor Kuznetsov, the head of the department of international cooperation and Metrology of the Federal Agency of Geodesy and Cartography. - In recent years much has been done to correct the errors. Maps of Russia and Belarus, intended for a broad audience, now help people to navigate and get exactly where they want. And find in these places exactly what is stated. The quantity of false maps constitutes not more than five percent, each year their number decreases. And this work is carried out with the help of modern cartographic technologies, used by the experts from both countries.