The notion of three-dimensionality is applied to five stages of the visualization pipeline. While 3D visulization is most often associated with the visual mapping and representation of data, this chapter also identifies its role in the management and assembly of data, and in the media used to display 3D imagery. The extra cartographic degree of freedom offered by using 3D is explored and offered as a motivation for employing 3D in visualization. The use of VR and the construction of virtual environments exploit navigational and behavioral realism, but become most usefil when combined with abstracted representations embedded in a 3D space. The interactions between development of geovisualization, the technology used to implement it and the theory surrounding cartographic representation are explored. The dominance of computing technologies, driven particularly by the gaming industry is discussed with particular reference to the 3D geovisualization.