The WWW Virtual Library

General Reference

Geographical Sources

geography: The science that describes the earth's surface, its form and physical features, its natural and political divisions, its climates, productions, etc.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

General Geographical Sources
- Gazeteers
- Atlases and Maps

General Geographical Sources

Country at a Glance : United Nations data including flag, latitude & longitude, area, population, population density, capital city, languages, largest city, currency, UN membership date, GDP, and GDP per capita. The companion site Infonation allows you to view and compare statistical data for the Member States of the United Nations.
scope: international
publisher: United Nations Publications

How far is it? : As the crow flies distances between two places. Data from the US Census and supplementary sources; provides a map using the Xerox PARC Map Server.
scope: international
publisher: Bali Online

World Climate: Weather, rainfall and temperature data : Historical weather data, providing monthly mean average over a range of years.
scope: over 85,000 records
publisher: Robert Hoare, Buttle and Tuttle Ltd.

The World Factbook 2005 : Online edition of The World Factbook 2005, compiled by the CIA for the US Government. Country profiles cover geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military and transnational issues.
scope: international
publisher: Central Intelligence Agency

World Flag Database : Descriptions and illustrations of flags for countries, territories, sub-national regions, and international organizations. Includes national and state flags, ensigns, and sub-national flags. The original graphics were created by the Flag Institute.
scope: over 260 entries covering hundreds of flags
publisher: The World Flag Database and Graham Bartram

Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development : Combines independent analysis with reference material covering international agreements; intergovernmetal organizations; international non-governmental organizations; and country profiles. Based on the Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development 2001-2002, Earthscan Publications.
scope: international
publisher: The Fridtjof Nansen Institute

Gazeteers

GEOnet Names Server : The US National Imagery and Mapping Agency's (NIMA) database of foreign geographic feature names as approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Provides latitude, longitude, area, UTM and JOG no. Note, you must know the country in which the feature is located. For names in the U.S. and Antarctica go to the US Geological Survey.
scope: 3.5 million entries; worldwide excluding the United States and Antarctica
publisher: National Imagery and Mapping Agency

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names : A structured vocabulary with an emphasis on art and architecture, covering continents, nations, historical places and physical features. Each record includes geographic coordinates, notes, sources for the data, and the role of the place (e.g., inhabited place, state capital). Names can include the vernacular, English, other languages, historical names, natural order, and inverted order.
scope: around 1,000,000 entries; current and historical; international
publisher: Getty Research Institute

Place Names on the Internet : Portal to place name servers; arranged in World, Country and Planetary sections.
scope: Portal
publisher: Arizona State University Libraries

Atlases and Maps

Atlapedia Online : Physical and political maps, facts and statistics on countries of the world. Material in the Countries section is detailed, but is undated and unattributed.
scope: world
publisher: Latimer Clarke Corporation Pty Ltd.

Atlas of World Civilizations : Portal for historical atlases and map resources: Greece; Hebrews, Judea, Israel; India; Italian Renaissance; Japan; Rome.
scope: Portal; historical
publisher: Richard Hooker, Washington State University

Expedia : World topographic maps and road maps for North America and Europe, with links to hotel, car rental and flight information. Driving directions provided for USA. Maps are copyright Microsoft Corporation and/or its suppliers.
scope: Road maps (North America, Europe), topographical maps (world)
publisher: Expedia, Inc.

National Geographic Map Machine Atlas : Maps, flags, facts and profiles for countries of the world and US states. Text from the National Geographic Atlas of the World, 1999. Maps from the National Geographic Society Cartographic Division.
scope: countries, US states
publisher: National Geographic

The Paleogeographic Atlas Project : Reconstruction of the geological past; sea-floor spreading, paleomagnetism, tectonics, topography, bathymetry, climate, oceanography, phytogeography and zoogeography. Includes annimations of successive paleogeographic maps.
scope: ongoing project
publisher: The Paleogeographic Atlas Project, University of Chicago

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection : Non-copyrighted material from the General Libraries at The University of Texas at Austin. Maps are aslo available via ftp.
scope: about 5,000 map images; current and historical
publisher: The University of Texas at Austin

Peakware World Relief Maps : 3D interactive relief maps of continents, mountain ranges, and specific peaks. Part of the Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia, which includes photographs, live web cams, and summit logs.
scope: world
publisher: Peakware

World Time Zone Map : H.M. Nautical Almanac Office map of standard time zones, corrected to April 2001, with legend for universal time.
scope: world
publisher: U.S. Naval Observatory

Xerox PARC Map Viewer : Maps are created on demand from a geographic database and presented as line data (coastlines, borders, rivers, roads). Options include zoom, and a choice of projection: elliptical, rectangular, sinusoidal, narrow, square.
scope: data is from 1985-1990; international
publisher: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center

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