World Atlas

The Best World Atlas

This is a list of links to some of the best map and atlas websites on the Internet.
Corrections and suggestions for additional site are welcome - contact Alan A. Lew <[email protected]>.

CONTENTS

    1. WORLD SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY MAPS
    2. WORLD PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY MAPS
    3. WORLD COUNTRY STATISTICS & INFORMATION
    4. US GEOGRAPHY MAPS & STATS

5. BASIC COUNTRY OUTLINE MAPS & CLIPART
6. WEB MAP MASHUPS & MAP MAKING
7. GEOGRAPHY MAP GAMES
8. OUR INTERESTING WORLD

1. WORLD SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY THEMATIC and HISTORICAL MAPS

Thematic Maps show reference data, such as population, religion, income and other socioeconomic data. (These are not listed in any particular order.)

1. WorldMapper.org - WorldMapper is a collection of world demography maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest. Some insightful animated maps. Search the Map Categories, Map Thumbnails or Map Index.
3. Europedia Europe Guide Maps - Maps of languages, religion, hair + eye color, ethnicity, legal age to drink alcohol, GDP, and more for Europe. Also social and economic statistics.
4. David Rumsey Map Collection AND Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, Univ. of Texas - These sites have a scanned historical maps, economic maps, cultural thematic maps, and some physical maps, as well as contemporary region and outline maps.
5. Linguistic Maps from Muturzikin - and - Ethnologue - Both provide language maps of the world. Muturzikin is easier to use to just find maps, while Ethnologue has some additional linguistic information in text.

2 . WORLD PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY MAPS

Physical Geography includes Geomorphology (physiography or topography), Biogeography, and Climatology (including climate change). (These are not listed in any particular order.)

1. Geology.com - has satellite images and political and topographic maps of the US States and the World, plus a lot of miscellaneous geology stuff.
2. NASA Earth Observatory Global Maps - Mostly focused on climate conditions and change over the entire earth - some are animated time series maps.
3. National Geographic Atlas Explorer - US political (and roads) Map, with a geophysical overlay and interesting notes here and there. Can be zoomed in and out for the the entire world.
4. Latest Earthquakes around the world - from the USGS - many hundreds occur every week.
5. Windytv.com - wonderful global map of live wind and weather patterns across the globe - easy to see the ITCZ and hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones

3. WORLD COUNTRY STATISTICS & INFORMATION

Data on the World and Places in the World. (See section 4 for US stats.) (These are not listed in any special order.)

1. CIA World Factbook - Best known for its country statistics, also has outline maps of countries and continents.
2. NationMaster.com - Very comprehensive site that includes well organized statistics and country descriptions, maps, flags, an education section and a discussion forum.
3. World Bank Key Development Data and Statistics - by various regional groupings and by country - Also from the World Bank: Data By Topic - comprehensive index of development statistics
4. World Audit.org - Focuses on democracy, human rights, press freedom, corruption and rule of law.
5. Global Edge - general region, country and US state description, information, statistics and news. Similar to the CIA, but more education-related resources.
6. InfoPlease.com - World Geography - definitions and physical geography features (mountains, earthquakes, etc.) of the world.
7. Gapminder - Global development trends over time come alive through moving graphics.
8. US Census Bureau's International Data Base website - Not much variety, but good time series (historical) data.

4. UNITED STATES GEOGRAPHY MAPS & STATISTICS

All Types of Maps and Data of the US. (These are not listed in any particular order.)

1. Census 2000 Atlas of the US - the first census atlas in many years. The chapters are available as .pdf downloads, and include housing, education, race, income, and more.- Also check out this cool ArcGIS version of US Census map data.
2. David Rumsey Map Collection - Over 18,000 scanned Historical Maps of the US and the World
3. Topographic ("Topo") Maps of the US at TopoZone - USGS topo maps that can be viewed in street map and satellite image formats, as well as shaded relief and line elevation maps.
USA Data Sources
1. Statistical Abstract of the US - Data from the US Census Bureau.
2. CensusScope.org - Good selection of exportable demographic maps, charts and tables from the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) at the Univ. of Michigan.
3. USA.gov - Portal to online resources about the US from the US government.
4. City-Data.com - This is a very comprehensive one-stop data source. I am not sure, though, how current the data is.
5. US Census Bureau's American Factfinder - data can be viewed in map format and downloaded in Excel and other formats.

5. BASIC REGION & COUNTRY MAPS, & OUTLINE MAPS

Basic Region and Country Maps are maps that do not specialize in social or physical geography. (These are not listed in any particular order.)

1. WorldAtlas.com - Lots of maps of regions and countries. Also has Map clip art, Flags, Outline maps, Population tables, Continent sizes data, World time conversion, and Definitions of geographic terms.
2. Maps.NationMaster. com AND Univ of Texas links to websites with outline maps.
3. P&P World Maps - "P&P" = paintable and printable - allows you to create an outline map and then draw on it in color.
4. d-maps.com - As of Jan 2015, d-maps contained almost 123,000 free maps.
5. All Free Blank Maps & World Maps - this is the best site I have seen for downloadable maps - Includes the Printable World Map and Printable US Map - tools on which you can color countries and states and zoom in and out before printing.
6. United Nations Geographic Information Section - Base maps with country outlines and cities, including a variety of regional maps and maps of every country. This is the best source for regional maps.
7. Blank Base Maps - Blank base maps of the US (with no text, just borders and rivers), and links to similar maps of the world.

Map & Geography Clip Art
1. CoolClips.com - Categories: world, maps, travel, flags
2. WorldAtlas.com - Geography - Categories: continents, flags, globes, outline maps, USA, world

6. WEB MAP MASHUPS, MAP MAKING, & CLIP ART

These sites mostly use Google Maps on which they overlay (mashup) other, more specialized information. (These are not listed in any particular order.)

Web 2.0 Live Maps - Including animated maps and current event maps.
1. Maps of War - A Flash map of Middle East History from 3000 BCE to Present. See the history of this important region in 3 minutes.
2. Unfiltered News - Global bubble map showing current (and past) trending news items in different countries
3. Global Incidents Map.com - Icons linking to current news events related to terrorism and related events worldwide.
4. Zillow.com - Houses for sale, Recent house sales, and Estimated house values for any property in the US.
5. More: There are, of course, many more Web 2.0 maps than I have listed here. Here are some additional links.
MAKE YOUR OWN MAPS
1. Scibblemaps.com - is even more powerful than Google My Maps, and, like QuickMaps, does not require registering for an account.
2. Wikimapia.com - a Google map where you get to add the information that you know about your community (like Google Earth, but crowd sourced).
3. Azimuthal Equidistant Projection Map Server - Not the easiest to use for a map novice, but does give you a lot of flexibility to create simple and accurate line maps centered on different parts of the world.
4. Google Maps - My Maps allows you to create and store your own maps on top of a Google map.

7. GEOGRAPHY MAP GAMES

These geography map games usually showing a blank outline map where you have to guess the country.

1. Seterra - Map Quizzes for the whole world.
2. SheppardSoftware.com - US Geography Games -and- World Geography Games
3. JetPunk Geography Quizzes - Large number of map quizzes based on city, country, ocean, landmark, and more.

8. OUR INTERESTING WORLD

Some other related websites

1. 9 Eyes - Google Street View as art.
2. Earth Calendar - Holidays and special events by date, country, and religion around the world
3. 360Cities.net - Thousands of 360 degree panorama photos from around the world. Click on the map to see where all these amazing photos are located.
4. AtlasObscura.com - unusual places around the globe