The HTML <map> element is used with <area> elements to define an image map (a clickable link area).

Content categories Flow content, phrasing content, palpable content.
Permitted content Any transparent element.
Tag omission None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parent elements Any element that accepts phrasing content.
DOM interface HTMLMapElement

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

name
The name attribute gives the map a name so that it can be referenced. The attribute must be present and must have a non-empty value with no space characters. The value of the name attribute must not be a compatibility-caseless match for the value of the name attribute of another map element in the same document. If the id attribute is also specified, both attributes must have the same value.

Examples

<map name="example-map-1">
  <area shape="circle" coords="200,250,25" href="another.htm" />
  <area shape="default" />
</map>

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of '<map>' in that specification.		 Living Standard  
HTML5
The definition of '<map>' in that specification.		 Recommendation  
HTML 4.01 Specification
The definition of '<map>' in that specification.		 Recommendation Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 1.0 1.0 (1.7 or earlier)[1]
5.0 (5.0)[2]
17.0 (17.0)[3]		 (Yes) 1.0 1.0
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support 1.0 1.0 (1.0)[1]
5.0 (5.0)[2]
17.0 (17.0)[3]		 (Yes) 1.0 1.0

[1] Starting in Gecko 5.0 (Firefox 5.0 / Thunderbird 5.0 / SeaMonkey 2.2), empty maps are no longer skipped over in favor of non-empty ones when matching when in quirks mode. For example, consider the following HTML:

<map></map>
<map>
  <area shape="rect" coords="25,25,75,75" href="#fail">
</map>
<img usemap="#a" src="image.png">

[2] Prior to Gecko 5.0, the <img> element would have matched to the second, non-empty map. Now it matches against the first one, even though it's empty.

[3] From Firefox 17 the default styling of the <map> HTML element is display: inline; and no more display: block;. This matches the behavior of the other browsers and was already the case in quirks mode.

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Contributors to this page: Sebastianz, Andrew_Pfeiffer, Jeremie, Korikulum, kscarfone, teoli, justleroy, marquete, tregagnon, Sheppy, baloneysandwiches, medicdude, ethertank, faisal5455, cers, McGurk
 Last updated by: Sebastianz,