Map information processor and data structure of map information

A map information processor comprising:

• a map information storage unit for storing map display information including a set of mesh-by-mesh map information elements managed on a mesh-by-mesh basis, each mesh-by-mesh map information element including respective sub-elements storing road information, background information for a corresponding mesh, and in-mesh image information for a corresponding mesh, the map information storage unit further storing image information which is managed outside of the map display information;
• an image processing unit for generating a map image on a basis of image data included in each road information sub-element, background information sub-element, and in-mesh image information sub-element included in the mesh-by-mesh map information read from said map information storage unit, the image processing unit generating the map on further basis of image data included in the image information which is managed outside of the map display information and is read from the map information storage unit;
• and
• a display unit for displaying the map image generated by said image processing unit,
• wherein the image information which is managed outside of the map display information is stored in the map storage unit in a data structure that is not arranged on a mesh-by-mesh basis.