Maps are a very effective means of communicating spatial information. They contain a suitable selection of themes of real-world data, displayed using their outlines or symbology, and with a well-chosen collection of colors. Furthermore, maps contain textual information (annotation, labels) to show the names or meanings of the map objects displayed. There are many different types of maps. Best known are tourist and topographic maps, but there are many other types of maps too. They include statistical maps, choropleth maps, reachability maps, density maps, cartograms, and many more. The design and drawing of maps is traditionally done by cartographers. But in the current digital era, computers play a large role in map design and construction too. Various laborsome tasks of cartographers can be taken over, at leat in part, by specialized algorithms. Furthermore, maps can be shown on-screen, which extends the visual possibilities of displaying spatial information. This has lead to interactive, dynamic, and animated maps, for example. Typical research themes within automated cartography are: Where to place text on maps. How to select information and perform changes for cartographic generalization. How to perform label placement and cartographic generalization during (interactive) zooming. How to automatically construct cartograms, dot maps, schematic maps, etc. Which criteria and geemetric measures to use for map design and generalization.