panorama

A panorama is a wide and unbroken view of an area or of a sequence of events. (noun)

When you stand on top of the Empire State Building and look down over the city of New York, this is an example of a situation where you get a panorama of the city.
A wide angle picture showing a wide portion of an area is an example of a panorama.
When you look back over the history of a movement and get a clear picture of all of the contributing factors of the movement, this is an example of a panorama.

See panorama in Webster's New World College Dictionary