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What's in a name
Ortelio is named after Abramo Ortelio (also known as Abraham Ortelius in English, referred with this name to avoid confusion herein), who was a cartographer and geographer, credited as the creator of the modern atlas. Ortelius was the first person who compiled existing local maps to make the first world atlas.

Ortelius' seminal work was the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" (Theatre of the World), which is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Ortelius and originally printed on May 20, 1570, in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets bound together. In this way all existing cartographical knowledge and information about various areas and territories on earth was compiled in one single work.
Abramo Ortelio
Ortelius brought the entire world's knowledge together in one easy to follow atlas!

This amazing historical document was of course far from complete, and the Flemish scholar considered it a work in progress. Before these pages were printed no one had ever considered putting together all of the known maps of the world into one edition. Up until this time, maps were usually loose sheets of paper of varying sizes and dimensions. Because of the variety of sources it was almost impossible for sailors and scholars to accurately compare distances, plan voyages and advance their work.

This is the Ortelius' genius - by compiling all the best-known maps of his day he was able to create the world’s first atlas. And if his story reminds you the story of the internet, you are not alone. But you should also spot the difference: Today’s internet companies do not rely on local information to create a global picture. In our times of globalization people take pictures of the earth from above and shape our localities in small squares to fit their creations. Ortelio takes the opposite path, following the Ortelius tradition: It enables local businesses to publish their own information in their own language, shape, and color, and display it only to people in their areas. Ortelio is using the internet to combine this information with all available world information, enabling the creation of the world’s first glocal atlas!