This chapter provides an overview of the historical development and theoretical classification of cartographic representations. The development is divided into four levels: (1) proto-conventional precursors, (2) traditional cartography, (3) critical cartography, and (4) post-critical cartography, the latter being discussed in Chap. 7 . The levels do not follow a Kuhnian sequence of paradigms, but mark the appearance of new emergent logics in dealing with the world. While proto-conventional, traditional and critical perspectives continue to exist, post-critical and neopragmatic cartography has developed as a further way of thinking. Traditional cartography, which went hand in hand with the standardization of surveying, symbolic language and spatial data control, was institutionalized as a scientific discipline in the 20th century. Critical cartography, on the other hand, questions this supposed objectivity and emphasizes that maps are to be understood as social constructions that reflect power structures. It argues for a decentralization of map production through participatory cartography and artistic representations. This chapter discusses these developments in a condensed form and refers to further literature for a detailed examination of the history of cartography.