Every map depicts both objective realities and subjective elements and is a rich resource for studying the geographic knowledge and values of mapmakers and their societies. This paper considers cognitive mapping research and describes how world maps reflect world images. Cognitive mapping is defined as a process that allows people to acquire, code, store, recall, and manipulate information about the nature of their spatial environment. A history of world mapping and cognitive processes in mapping is presented, and an analysis of how current mental maps of the world are centered, based on a worldwide sample of student sketch maps, is described. Results indicate that sketch maps were either Eurocentric, Sinocentric, or Americentric, and examples of these maps are used to illustrate differences in images and the centering of countries. The English colonial mentality and Eurocentric image of the world still remain dominant in many places, and this suggests a lag time between political change and its reflection in world images. Seven data tables, 25 maps, and a 59-item bibliography are included. (JHP)