# Static Maps
The Static class from the mapbox.services.static module provides access to the Mapbox Static Maps API. You can also import it directly from the mapbox module.
```python >>> from mapbox import Static
See https://www.mapbox.com/api-documentation/legacy/static-classic for general documentation of the API.
Your Mapbox access token should be set in your environment; see the [access tokens](access_tokens.md) documentation for more information.
## Static methods
The methods of the Static class that provide access to the Static Maps API return an instance of [requests.Response](http://docs.python-requests.org/en/latest/api/#requests.Response). Its content() method returns the raw bytestring that can be saved into an image file with the appropriate extension.
## Usage
Static maps are standalone images that can be displayed on web and mobile devices without the aid of a mapping library or API.
```python >>> service = Static()
```python >>> response = service.image(‘mapbox.satellite’, … lon=-61.7, lat=12.1, z=12) >>> response.status_code 200 >>> response.headers[‘Content-Type’] ‘image/png’
Static maps can also display GeoJSON overlays and the [simplestyle-spec](https://github.com/mapbox/simplestyle-spec) styles will be respected and rendered.
```python >>> portland = { … ‘type’: ‘Feature’, … ‘properties’: {‘name’: ‘Portland, OR’}, … ‘geometry’: { … ‘type’: ‘Point’, … ‘coordinates’: [-122.7282, 45.5801]}} >>> bend = { … ‘type’: ‘Feature’, … ‘properties’: {‘name’: ‘Bend, OR’}, … ‘geometry’: { … ‘type’: ‘Point’, … ‘coordinates’: [-121.3153, 44.0582]}}
If features are provided the map image will be centered on them and will cover their extents.
```python >>> response = service.image(‘mapbox.satellite’, … features=[portland, bend]) >>> response.status_code 200 >>> response.headers[‘Content-Type’] ‘image/png’
Finally, the contents can be written to file.
```python >>> with open(‘/tmp/map.png’, ‘wb’) as output: … _ = output.write(response.content)
See import mapbox; help(mapbox.Static) for more detailed usage.