A method for providing a location service and a mobile terminal are provided. The location service providing method includes determining a positioning method based on location information of the mobile terminal and measurement information used for calculating the location of the mobile terminal, determining a map switch indicator by using at least one of the determined positioning method, the location information, and the measurement information, selecting a global map (i.e., the whole area map) or a local map according to the determined map switch indicator, and indicating the location of the mobile terminal on the selected map.