into seven climatic zones, with detailed descriptions of each zone. As part of this work, a smaller, circular map depicting the south on top and Arabia in the center was made. Al-Idrisi also made an estimate of the circumference of the world, accurate to within 10%.

In the Age of Discovery, from the 15th century to the 17th century, European cartographers both copied earlier maps (some of which had been passed down for centuries) and drew their own based on explorers'