The map (or [basemap](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Basemap)) is one of the first and perhaps most important pieces in providing a good location-based experience.

In this session we will look at some **basic concepts** to consider when **choosing a provider, map style and library/SDK to consume**.

It will end by showing a playground that allows us to explore the capabilities of Esri's new [Basemap styles service (v2)](https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/basemap-styles/).

Some of the notable features of this new service:

- Includes 2,000,000 requests/[tessellations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiled_web_map) [free](https://developers.arcgis.com/pricing/) per month with the free account (which does not require a credit card).
- Includes more than [20 map styles](https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/basemap-styles/#arcgis-styles) (satellite, outdoor, relief, street map, etc).
- Allows customization of styles through the [Vector Tile Style Editor](https://vtse.arcgis.com/).
- Allows to choose the underlying data source (street map, building footprints, etc) between OpenStreetMap and Esri curated data.

- Supports localization of tags in [+35 languages](https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/basemap-styles/#languages) (name of cities, etc).
- Reconfigure [9 disputed borders](https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/self).
- Supports [Leaflet, MapLibre GL JS, +7 ArcGIS Maps SDK, OpenLayers and Cesium](https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/basemap-styles/#api-support).