What are vector maps

Vector maps are maps which consist of points, lines and polygons. That means that they are quite schematic, but can contain more information like e.g. streetnames. The different objects are categorized in groups, which makes it possible to show certain objects only on different zoom levels. E.g. hiking trails will only be shown once you zoom in a lot, major roads you will always see, no matter how much you zoom in or out. That is one of the main advantages of vector maps in opposite to raster maps. They look usually much clearer and better arranged then raster maps do.

Here you see the same part of a map once as a rastermap and once as a vector map.