Internet Map Sources

The Web is a wonderful source for maps--one reason why we didn't include many in Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism.  The sites listed below contain all kinds of maps and projections.  If you want to know even more about maps and cartography in general, National Geographic has a good list of sources.   (more resources)

Contemporary Atlases

Aerial Photographs and Atlases: Microsoft Terraserver [frames]
http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/

The ultimate voyeuristic experience.  Pick any spot in the world, and zoom in until you're almost on top of it.  But also a good source for learning about geography.

Electronic Map Library
http://130.166.124.2/library.html

Created by the Department of Geography at the University of California, Northridge, the site contains detailed maps of the United States.

General Map Collections
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gnrlhome.html

These recent releases from the Library of Congress (LOC) American Memory Project (last reviewed in the April 30, 1999 Scout Report) highlight some of the gems from the Library’s Geography and Map Division. The first offering consists of about 200 maps, dating from the seventeenth century to the present day, of the areas that eventually became four of America’s finest National Parks: Acadia, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, and Yellowstone. Users may search the maps by keyword or browse by geographic location (via a clickable map or an alphabetical index), subject, creator, or title. Once a map is selected, five zoom levels are available to view details. Special presentations on the history of mapmaking for each of the four parks are also provided. The other two new LOC features are additions to existing collections. The first of these, the 1562 Map of America by Diego Gutierrez, has been placed on the Discovery and Exploration Maps Collection page. Truly one of the LOC’s greatest treasures, this handsomely engraved 1562 map of the Americas comes complete with images of sea monsters, exotic wildlife, and an erupting volcano. A very nice essay by a senior LOC Bibliographer on the map and its origins is also provided. The final new resource is Abraham Ortelius’s _Theatrum Orbis Terrarum_ (Theater of the World), published in 1570 and "considered the first true atlas in the modern sense." Located in the special atlases presentation section on the General Map Collections page, the online _Terrarum_ consists of 181 image pages. Users can view the atlas page-by-page or choose to view the maps only. A brief essay is also included. [MD]

Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm

Designed by librarian Matthew White, this sprawling and somewhat idiosyncratic Website offers hundreds of political, economic, demographic, religious, and historical cartographies of the countries and continents of the last century. Visitors to this site can trace the global rise and fall of various political systems through the century, examine the mapped battle histories of the Mexican Revolution and the two world wars, compare the size and rate of growth of the world’s largest cities, compare living conditions across time and countries, and much more. Some of the mappings seem questionable, such as placing the US in the category of "limited democracy" in the 1910s and "multi-party democracy" in the 1920s, but the author asserts that all cartographies are interpretive and that the maps here are drawn from scholarly sources of statistics or historical events, which he lists. Quite simply, there’s too much fascinating information here graphically represented to quibble too much, though individuals using it for research or instruction will certainly want to double-check the authority of some of the claims. [ Scout Report for Social Sciences & Humanities -- March 6, 2001]

Houghton Mifflin Social Science Maps
http://www.hmco.com/hmco/school/ss/ssmaps

Good source for basic outline maps for class use or to include in essays.

Landform Atlas of the United States
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.html

Excellent maps of the U.S. along with a good set of external links.

MegaMaps
http://www.brigadoon.com/~owlmouse/megamaps.htm

The site allows you to download software to print out maps from one page in size, to over seven feet.  Excellent resource for teachers.

National Atlas of the United States [frames, Shockwave, .tar.gz]
http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/

Text Only
http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/indext.html

National Geographic Map Machine
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/index.html

Excellent source for basic world maps, political maps, and physical maps.

Native Maps
http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/maps/mapmenu.html

Many maps of North American indigenous peoples.  There are historical maps and detailed maps of first nations.

Oddens Bookmarks
http://kartoserver.frw.ruu.nl/HTML/staff/oddens/maps_atl.htm

Great source for contemporary and historical maps.

Oriental Institute Map Series
http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/INFO/MAP/ANE_Maps.html

"The first installment of the Map Series presents seven Site Maps covering the ancient Near East (Egypt, Sudan, The Levant, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran), locating primary archaeological sites, modern cities, and river courses set against a plain background. All Site Maps are Simple Conic projections at the same scale and orientation."

Relief Web
www.reliefweb.int/mapc/

Superb site with physical and political maps, along with maps regarding issues such as refugees.  Check, for example, the number of refugees in central Africa.

United Nations Cartographics Section [.pdf]
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm

This site presents some of the work produced by the UN’s mapping and GIS specialists. Two primary map collections are offered at the site in .pdf format: general maps (over 100) and deployment maps of peacekeeping missions. Both can be browsed via a pull-down menu or on separate pages via the toolbar at the top of the main page. The general maps page organizes maps by region, while the peacekeeping missions map page offers helpful mission overviews and an archive of maps from past missions. Additional resources at the site include a geographic names list, information about the Map Collection of the Dag Hammarskjold Library, and free email notification of new additions. (Scout Report, 8/6/99)

University of Kansas Map Index
http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/history/index.html#cartography

Lots of good sites.  Be patient, however, while the whole index loads.

World Fact Book: Reference Maps
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ref.html

Excellent map collection maintained by the CIA. 

Worldsite Atlas
http://www.sitesatlas.com/

Historical Atlases

Cartographic Images
www.iag.net/~jsiebold/carto.html

Collection of digitized antique maps. You can find maps from 6000 BC to 1500.   And there is an excellent list of other maps sites on the Web.

Color Landform Atlas of the United States--Relaunch
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.html

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
http://www.davidrumsey.com/

Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm

A wonderful resource.  You can get geographic information by years for living conditions, population, war, government types, etc.   Fun to browse.

Historical Map Collection -- UGeorgia
http://scarlett.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/maps.html

James Ford Bell Library's Historical Map Collection(University of Minnesota)
http://www.bell.lib.umn.edu

Map History/History of Cartography
http://ihr.sas.ac.uk/maps/

Index of Cartographic Images Illustrating Maps of the Late Medieval Period 1300 - 1500 A.D.
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/LML.html

Do you want to see what people of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth century thought the world looked like.  This is the way it was at the beginning of the economic expansion of Europe.

Odden Bookmarks
http://kartoserver.frw.ruu.nl/HTML/staff/oddens/maps_atl.htm

Oregon State System of Higher Education Historical and Cultural Atlas Resource [Shockwave]
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~atlas/

Oxford University, Bodleian Library - Historic Maps
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/nnj/mapcase.htm

Panoramic Maps 1847-1909--Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/pmhtml/panhome.html

The Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/Map_collection.html

The Xerox PARC Map Viewer
http://mapweb.parc.xerox.com

Look at the world and then zoom to any portion that you want to see in more detail.  Excellent place to download some basic line maps.

Other Map Sites
http://www-map.lib.umn.edu/history_of_cartography.html