A position information management system in which a portable remote
terminal includes a plurality of kinds of positioning means for
positioning based on a GPS, positioning based on a portable-telephone or
PHS base station, positioning based on a radio marker, and independent
positioning based on a direction detector, so that the holder of the
portable remote terminal can be navigated anywhere. The holder of the
portable remote terminal can know the position of a third party similarly
holding such a portable remote terminal, by inquiring of a central
system, and he/she can supervise, for example, the action of an old
person, a child, or a skier in a skiing area. Further, only the map data
of a district which is often used by the holder is stored in the portable
remote terminal. In this regard, when the holder is in a district not
contained within the retained map data, he/she downloads corresponding
map data from the central system and uses the downloaded map data.