US Patent 7584434 System and method of displaying map image

A map database site S comprises a map information database Sb for accumulating the map data constructed of units for displaying of unit images m each having a display range smaller than a display range of a map image M corresponding to one page of a map image displayed on a user terminal T, in association with position data indicating the display ranges of the individual unit images m. A user terminal T comprises map-image display means for combining the map data of a plurality of units with each other on the basis of the associated position data, which are read out from the map information database Sb provided in the map database site S and transmitted from the map database site S, to form the one-page map image M for display.