As stated in
the definition of surveying the objective of measurements is to show relative
positions of various objects on paper. Such representations on paper is called
plan or map. A plan may be defined as the graphical representation of the
features on, near or below the surface of the earth as projected on a
horizontal plane to a suitable scale. However, since the surface of the earth
is curved and that of the paper is plane, no part of the earth can be
represented on such maps without distortion. If the area to be represented is
small, the distortion is less and large scale can be used. Such representations
are called plans. If the area to be represented is large, small, scales are to
be used and distortion is large. Representation of larger areas
are called maps.
Representation of a particular locality in a municipal area is a plan while
representation of a state/country is a map. There is no exact demarcation
between a plan and map.