This section includes both interactive atlases and collections of maps about countries of the world. For maps of individual countries or regions, see the regional atlases tab in this guide. For UK maps see the British atlases tab.
List of countries with information about land, population, administration, economy, communications and defence. Includes basic maps. Updated annually by the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Huge collection of maps, mostly produced by the CIA. Available as gifs or jpegs. Also many links to other sites with maps, including historical maps, city plans and cartographic reference sources. Maintained by the University of Texas at Austin.
Produced as part of the Country Studies / Area Handbook Program, sponsored by the US Department of the Army. Information dates from 1988-1998. Not all inclusive - contains 101 countries and regions, with brief, more up-to-date Country Profiles on selected countries.
"Create your own vector world map". Fun way to create an outline map of the world or a smaller region. It guides you through centring your map, choosing a projection, adding basic information and a colour scheme, and finally downloading a jpg, png or svg file.
"ReliefWeb is the world’s leading on-line gateway to information (documents and maps) on humanitarian emergencies and disasters." It is administered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The link is to their index of location maps - the maps can be freely used as long as you comply with their conditions (follow the 'map permission' link)
Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung in Germany. This atlas aims to make this invisible issue more visible by drawing attention to different facets and showing how solutions are possible.
Worldmapper is a collection of world maps depicting a wide variety of population related information. The maps are cartograms - territories are re-sized on each map according to the variable of interest.
3rd edition, 2020. Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. "This atlas aims to stimulate a political rethink by showing migration from a different angle." It presents statistics and graphics in order to give a more objective basis to the debate.
"The Atlas of Migration is a reference book providing a snapshot of migration and a knowledge base for policymakers, stakeholders, businesses, researchers and the general public. It provides insights on migration up to 2018 for all EU Member States and 160 non-EU countries."
"The Human Rights Atlas ... brings together more than 200 different measures of economic, social, political and legal life in 220 different countries across the world.
Using published data from the World Bank, the United Nations, academics, non-governmental organisations and other bodies, the atlas gives a picture of the lives and rights of human beings over a 30-year period."
"The Atlas of Urban Expansion provides the geographic and quantitative dimensions of urban expansion and its key attributes in cities the world over. The data and images are available for free downloading, for scholars, public officials, planners, those engaged in international development, and concerned citizens. The global empirical evidence presented here is critical for an intelligent discussion of plans and policies to manage urban expansion everywhere."
Atlas of meat production and how it relates to climate, sustainability, animal welfare and nutrition. In German. Produced by the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland.
Produced by the World Bank Group. The atlas is intended to support solar power development in the initial phases of development. It also provides long-term averages of solar resource (global, diffuse and direct normal), the principal climate phenomena that determines solar power generation.
World Bank Group product developed to identify potential high-wind areas for wind power generation, and perform preliminary calculations. It is also possible to download high-resolution maps showing global, regional, and country wind resource potential.
Maps and statistics relevant to the sustainable development of the oceans. Includes information under the broad headings of uses, issues and geography.
Produced by the Heinrich Boell Foundation and the University of Kiel, Germany. Uses text, infographics and maps to illustrate problems with the oceans today, including overfishing, pollution, declining biodiversity and climate change. Download the pdf or view chapters online.
The Hydrographic Programme of the international World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) was a comprehensive global hydrographic survey of physical and chemical properties. The atlases represent the "state of the oceans" during the 1990s. Four atlases are available - Southern Ocean; Pacific Ocean; Atlantic Ocean; Indian Ocean.
EU publication, published 2020. Uses satellite imagery to discuss the importance of surface water; mapping surface water; regional case studies and examples.
The 3rd edition of the World Atlas of Desertification focuses on land degradation and global environmental change, including global patterns of human domination, feeding a growing global population and limits to sustainability.
Download is at the bottom of the page.
Provides maps and imagery which complement our understanding of the ancient world, and suggest new approaches to it. These maps include both “reference” material, with a minimum of interpretation, and also “interpretative” material such as reconstructed trade routes or cultural entities.
CartoMundi contains about 75 000 references of cartographic documents. They cover 194 countries and are held in about 20 map libraries.
The web site also offers more than 7500 digital reproductions. "CartoMundi - Online Promotion of the Cartographic Heritage – is developed as part of Aix-Marseille University." In French, English and Spanish.
The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. It includes maps, dating up to 1949.
Currently contains over 700 maps, ranging from early maps of Asia to historical maps of Wisconsin and Milwaukee, and other American cities, states, and national parks.
Maps illustrating aspects of world history, also links to text files and off site maps and guides. WHKMLA is based in South Korea. Note: no longer updated.
In English and Dutch. Mapping Slavery is a public history project that focuses on the Dutch history of slavery. Currently maps images of monuments, historical sites etc in the United States and the Netherlands. Indonesia is 'under construction'.
This is an attempt to make historic information universally accessible for everyone, through intuitive and attractive geo-temporal maps, as well as configurable timelines.
A collection of maps and infographics relating to the amount of protected area in the world's biodiversity hotspots. It includes an assessment of which cities in these hotspots are growing on collision courses with remnant habitat and endangered species.
Many links to vegetation maps on the web, current and palaeological plant distributions, mostly in Africa and Asia. Based at the University of California, Berkeley. Note: No longer updated.
An international initiative of the geological surveys of the world, with the aim of making dynamic geological map data of the world available via the web
Shows plate tectonic development of ocean basins and continents, and the changing climate and distribution of land and sea in the last 100 million years.
Digital visualization of global weather conditions (wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.), ocean surface currents, ocean waves (height), water temperatures, aurora, aerosols/chemicals (dust extinction, particulate matter, sulphur, carbon, etc), different height intervals, different projections, data taken from GFS, OSCAR, WAVEWATCH II, OVATION, CAMS and others, updated every 30 minutes to five days.
Documents and catalogues social conflict around environmental issues. "The EJ Atlas collects ... stories of communities struggling for environmental justice from around the world. It aims to make these ... more visible, highlight claims and testimonies and to make the case for true corporate and state accountability for the injustices inflicted through their activities. It also attempts to serve as a virtual space for those working on EJ issues to get information, find other groups working on related issues, and increase the visibility of environmental conflicts." Based at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.
Global-scale coral reef habitat mapping project that is using satellite imagery (in combination with wave models and ecological data) to create consistent global coral reef habitat maps with the purpose of supporting science and conservation.
FAO production. This is an "assessment of how biodiversity as a whole contributes to food and agriculture, including “associated biodiversity”, the myriad components of biodiversity that support food and agricultural production by providing services such as pollination, pest control, soil formation and maintenance, carbon sequestration, purification and regulation of water supplies, reduction of disasters threats, and the provision of habitat for other beneficial species."
"Provides a step-by-step guidance for developing 1 km grids for soil carbon stocks. It includes the preparation of local soil data, the compilation and pre-processing of ancillary spatial data sets, upscaling methodologies, and uncertainty assessments. Guidance is mainly specific to soil carbon data, but also contains many generic sections on soil grid development, as it is relevant for other soil properties."
