Resources of the Week
Maps again this week, folks. Loyal ResourceShelf readers know how much we like geographic resources. World Maps and Geographic Information
Source: United Nations United Nations Cartographic Section
"The Cartographic Section is comprised of a small team of experienced mapping and GIS specialists. It is equipped to undertake a range of cartographic services related to the work of the Secretariat, including the preparation of small-scale illustrative, large-scale stand-alone maps and GIS products. To a lesser extent, the section provides advisory geographic/cartographic services on technical and research issues." What's in it for you? Plenty.
On the left side of the page, a dropdown menu allows you to selected from more the 100 country and regional maps in PDF format. Directly below this, you'll find links to a handful of thematic maps. Interesting to compare:
+ The World in 1945
+ The World Today (as of October 2004)
Items of interest on the lower part of the page include:
+ List of Territories (PDF; 128 KB): "Capital city, country code and country name of each member and non-member State is listed."
+ The Map Library: Actually part of the UN's Dag Hammarskj�ld Library, which "houses over 80,000 maps, some 3,000 atlases, gazetteers, travel guides, cartographic and geographic reference works as well as digital cartographic products." Available online is a nice, growing collection of PDF maps of World Macro Regions and Components The map of Iraq, for example, is current as of January 2004 and provides enough detail that you can see the placenames you hear about in the news.
A brief FAQ about this site notes that none of the maps is for sale. "Our principle is to share maps and data as much as we can. You can download, print and use our maps for non-profit purposes, free of charge. We ask that the map numbers be retained for reference purposes and that you give attribution to the source."
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-- Maps--Developing World
Source: Canadian Geographic Enterprises and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) A Developing World
The bad news is, you have to download something called Adobe SVG Viewer to access it. The good news is...it's worth it because it is very cool. Actually, there are two interactive world maps here:
+ The Developing World focuses on "international development produced in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
+ Canada and the World, offers "interesting factoids on science and culture."
The Developing World map allows you to click on a country, select a theme (human development, population, poverty and hunger, HIV/AIDS, education, environment from a dropdown menu) and compare that country with another that you choose from a second dropdown menu. Or you can choose geographic regions from other dropdown menus. A "More About This Country" link takes you to a page offering links to information about Canadian assistance activities in that country. Click on the map to zoom in, or use the controls provided.
The Canada and the World map focuses on "Canada's global citizenship." Click on a country or choose a region or country/territory from the dropdown menus and another window opens, allowing you to read about Canada's scientific, technological and cultural contributions in that part of the world, as well as diplomacy and peacekeeping efforts.
As you might expect, the maps are available in French as well as English. Print versions have been distributed to schools across Canada. Read all about the project in this press release.
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