Map coloring is an application of Graph Theory, the study of graphs. A graph is informally a collection of points, known as vertices, connected by lines, known as edges. Two vertices connected by an edge are said to be adjacent. A graph is planar if no two edges overlap each other, as shown in the diagram to the left.

Graphs are useful to analyze map coloring because a map can easily be converted into a planar graph by representing each territory with a vertex and each border with an edge, as in this page's main image. An edge is not drawn between two territories which share only a corner, such between Utah and New Mexico. The four color theorem states that the vertices of any planar graph can be colored with at most four colors such that no adjacent vertices are the same color. Since every map can be represented by a planar graph, this theorem is equivalent to saying any map can be colored with at most four colors, and no territories of the same color will share a border.