UIUC Map and Geography Library
The weblinks page from the UIUC Map and Geography Library is an excellent collection of geographic links. They have gathered a huge assortment of web pages covering encyclopedias and Almanacs, gazetteers, Maps, Interactive maps, map libraries, map dealers, organizations etc…

Columbia Gazetteer
Comprehensive gazetteer that is an encyclopedia of geographical places and features. Includes a database of names, descriptions, and characteristics of over 165,000 places in the world. Users can search by type of place, place name or word search.

Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970
Produced for over a century and chart the growth and development of more than 12,000 American towns and cities. Drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch and used to assist fire insurance companies.

Faunmap
Electronic database that documents the late Quaternary distributions of mammal species in the U.S. Its primary purpose is to investigate the evolution of mammalian communities. Changes in the distributions of individual species and their effects upon mammal community composition can be documented with statistical techniques and mapping capabilities of a GIS. Data from paleontological and archaeological sites that contain mammalian remains can be found here. Faunmap can be downloaded; it is also available in hardcopy or on disc.

GEOnet Names Server
Produced by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and the United States Board on Geographic Names, the Geographic Names database provides access to the National Imagery and Mapping Agency’s database of foreign geographic feature names. The coverage is worldwide excluding the United States and Antarctica and contains 3.90 million features with 5.37 million names. Provides a gazetteer-like summary of query responses and has a Tab-delimited test summary which can be loaded into a GIS or user specific database application.

Geographic Names Information System
Developed by the USGS in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN); contains information about almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references are made to a feature's location by state, county, and geographic coordinates. GNIS is the Nation's official repository of domestic geographic names information.

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names On Line (TGN)
A structured vocabulary containing more than one million names and other information about places. Includes all continents and nations of the modern political world, as well as historical places. Includes physical features and administrative entities, such as cities and nations. Emphasizes places that are important for art and architecture. Each record lists longitude and latitude, hierarchical position, brief explanation of the region, and current and historical names for the region.

Google Maps
Comprehensive site for street, traffic, political, and satellite maps. Directions also available. Information can be downloaded to cell phones, printed, emailed, or faxed. My Maps allows users to customize maps of places of interest. Can search for businesses, restaurants, or other attractions.

Historical Maps Online
Electronically publishs images of maps charting the last 400 years of historical development in Illinois and the Northwest Territory. Designed to appeal both to map aficionados and to educational institutions, the project aims to provide a broad spectrum of content, from expert scholarship of mapmakers and mapmaking to general knowledge about cartography and history.

Illinois Natural Resources Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
Gateway to GIS data and imagery for Illinois. Available data sets and documentation (metadata) include: DRG files, DOQ data, geology, land use, political boundaries, nature preserves, Public Land Survey, roads, water resources, wildlife areas, and year 2000 Orthoimagery for the Des Plaines River Watershed

Ilinois State Geological Survey (ISGS): Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
Aerial photography and orthophotography (photographs that have been rendered to work with the curvature of the Earth) of the entire state of Illinois. Interactive map and data for these maps. Historical aerial photographs also available.

International Map Source
Assortment of online maps from the University of Texas at Austin. Excellent source of electronic maps of other countries and historical maps.

Land Voyage
Can create a basic map, or professional quality exhibits, brochures, and general vicinity maps. Will find any land in the USA in under three minutes or can search by location, county, zip, section or latitude or longitude. Views satellite, air photo, USGS topos and BLM maps. Can draw a boundary with a mouse or by legal description, measure acres, distances or get latitude longitude coordinates. Enables you to print, download and e-mail low cost maps. For full use of this database there is a $29.00 monthly fee.

Mapquest
Provides easy-to-read and print maps, directions and destination information to millions of online, voice and wireless users. Maps and driving directions can be printed, downloaded to a PDA, emailed or faxed. An authority on auto and travel information, it also helps travelers find restaurants, ATM's, entertainment and attractions to customize maps, directions and destination information. Aerial photos enable a bird's eye view of surrounding areas.

Maps.com
Claims to be “your one stop shop for maps.” Combination of content and commerce offerings, which attracts over 2,000,000 unique users per month and consistently ranks among the most visited travel web sites.

National Geographic Maps
National Geographic’s web site for maps and atlases. Allows you to view or purchase maps from all over the world. Also includes TOPO software, trails illustrated, printer-friendly maps, Country Profiles, Conservation Maps and Atlas updates.

Online Research Resources: UIUC Library
Contains electronic maps resources that are available to the UIUC Library. Links can be accessed anywhere.

TopoZone
Interactive topo map of the entire United States. Also are a source for custom digital topographic data sets for Web, GIS, and CAD applications. All USGS 1:100,000, 1:63,360, 1:25,000 and 1:24,000 scale topographic maps for the entire United States are available. Uses place name search to locate areas.

Trails.com
Contains maps, a trail finder, guidebooks, topo maps for the United States and other countries. Can search by location and activity (hiking, biking skiing…) For full access to information there is a subscription fee of $2.50 per month.

United States Census 2002 Geography
Contains a wealth of information of the United States as it relates to the 2002 Census.

The World Factbook
Unclassified since 1971, The Central Intelligence Agency's annual World Fact Book provides a reliable resource for information on independent states, dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, uninhabitable regions, and oceans (a total of 267 entries). Each entry typically includes concise physical and demographic statistics, an economic overview, as well as communications, transportation, and military information.

Created: 04/27/03 erw
Last Updated: 08/01/07 kam