Map information providing apparatus and method

A map information providing apparatus includes a detecting unit 13 and a searching part 21. In operation, the part 21 searches a target object in accordance with a position of a user's vehicle detected by the detecting unit 13. A positional relationship analyzing part 22 analyzes a positional relationship between the target object and the user's vehicle. A reduced scale calculating part 23 calculates a reduced scale of the map information on the basis of the positional relationship analyzed by the part 22 and a display format of an onboard monitor 3. Further, the apparatus picks up the map information with the calculated reduced scale allowing the vehicle and the target object to be displayed on the monitor 3 simultaneously.