Chapter 1: An Introduction to QGIS
Part II A: Adding a Base Map
Now that we have opened QGIS and begun a project, we can start to add data to it.
The base map is the bottom-layer map over the top of which we will add all of our other layers. It is the map that forms the background map of our project. In many ways, it is the foundation of our GIS project.
- Go to the Browser, and expand the XYZ Tiles option.
- Double-click the OpenStreetMap option. This will automatically add it to your layers.
We can navigate the OpenStreetMap layer with the following tools. These tools allow us to pan around the map at the current zoom, to zoom in and out, and to zoom to a 1:1 ratio of the currently selected layer.