vägkarta

Vägkarta, in Swedish, refers to a map designed primarily for road travel. It emphasizes navigable routes, road networks and transportation infrastructure, and is intended to help users plan trips, find destinations and estimate distances. Unlike topographic or cadastral maps, a vägkarta generally minimizes terrain detail in favor of legible roads, with a focus on highways, national and regional roads, city streets, and connecting routes.

A typical vägkarta includes symbols for motorways, primary and secondary roads, bridges, tunnels, rail lines and ferry routes when relevant. It may mark service facilities such as rest areas, gas stations, hotels and campsites, as well as towns, airports and borders. A legend explains symbols; scales range from about 1:250,000 to 1:1,000,000 for regional maps, with smaller-scale editions used for wider areas. City sheets or local road maps may use larger scales, such as 1:10,000 to 1:25,000.

Historically, vägkartor were produced as printed road atlases and pocket maps by publishers and automobile associations to support motorists. In recent decades, digital mapping has largely replaced paper versions in everyday use, with vägkartor now appearing as online maps, smartphone apps and in-car navigation systems. These digital versions often provide real-time traffic data, search functions and route optimization, while still retaining the essential road-focused presentation of information.

Vägkartor remain a basic reference for travel planning, logistics and tourism, offering a concise overview of how to move between places by road.