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HTML <area> Tag


Example

An image-map, with clickable areas:

<img src="planets.gif" width="145" height="126" alt="Planets"
usemap="#planetmap">

<map name="planetmap">
  <area shape="rect" coords="0,0,82,126" href="sun.htm" alt="Sun">
  <area shape="circle" coords="90,58,3" href="mercur.htm" alt="Mercury">
  <area shape="circle" coords="124,58,8" href="venus.htm" alt="Venus">
</map>
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The <area> tag defines an area inside an image-map (an image-map is an image with clickable areas).

The <area> element is always nested inside a <map> tag.

Note: The usemap attribute in the <img> tag is associated with the <map> element's name attribute, and creates a relationship between the image and the map.


Browser Support

Element
<area> Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

HTML5 has some new attributes, and some HTML 4.01 attributes are no longer supported.


Differences Between HTML and XHTML

In HTML the <area> tag has no end tag.

In XHTML the <area> tag must be properly closed.



Attributes

Attribute Value Description
alt text Specifies an alternate text for the area. Required if the href attribute is present
coords coordinates Specifies the coordinates of the area
download filename Specifies that the target will be downloaded when a user clicks on the hyperlink
href URL Specifies the hyperlink target for the area
hreflang language_code Specifies the language of the target URL
media media query Specifies what media/device the target URL is optimized for
nohref value Not supported in HTML5.
Specifies that an area has no associated link
rel alternate
author
bookmark
help
license
next
nofollow
noreferrer
prefetch
prev
search
tag
Specifies the relationship between the current document and the target URL
shape default
rect
circle
poly
Specifies the shape of the area
target _blank
_parent
_self
_top
framename
Specifies where to open the target URL
type media_type Specifies the media type of the target URL

Global Attributes

The <area> tag also supports the Global Attributes in HTML.


Event Attributes

The <area> tag also supports the Event Attributes in HTML.


Related Pages

HTML DOM reference: Area Object


Default CSS Settings

Most browsers will display the <area> element with the following default values:

area {
  display: none;
}