Instructions
Press the "M" key on your keyboard to open the map interface.
Place your mouse over any map icon to get a description of the marked item. The information that can be gained through the icons range from your current location to resource nodes.
Right-click the mouse to zoom out the map perspective. There are three levels to the map: the area you are currently in, the continent you are currently on, and the world map.
Left-click an area on the map when in the continent view or world view to zoom the map perspective into that area. This lets you view continents and areas you are not currently in.