Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Digitalglobe.com
DigitalGlobe (
www.digitalglobe.com
) is one of several companies and agencies involved in satellite
monitoring of Earth's surface that offer sample images or even catalogs of images for online perusal
andpurchase.Whileseveralgalleries areavailable onthisWebsite,theApplication Tourisespecially
recommended for the novice geographer. Here you can access a variety of image types that pertain to
agriculture, mapping, environmental issues, emergency monitoring, and forestry applications. Each
image or set of images is accompanied by a paragraph-length description.
Mapquest.com
Mapquest.com (
http://www.mapquest.com
) may be the best source of general-purpose maps on the
Internet. Its world atlas allows you to zoom in on fairly detailed country maps that are accompanied
by comprehensive fact sheets. For the U.S., you can zoom in on similar state-level resources, as well
asmapsofcities, towns,andstreet addresses, each ofwhichiscomplemented byanaerial photograph
and topographic sheet. Separate maps are available for U.S. national parks, scenic drives, and airport
terminals. For North America and Europe, you can access the site's road trip planner. Just punch in
your origin and destination points, and the program gives you detailed driving instructions, plus a
route map that can be viewed at varying scales.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin (
ht-
tp://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps
), is home to more than 250,000 maps of all parts of the world. A rep-
resentative cross-section numbering about 5,000 are available on this site. On the home page, you
can click on various world regions to access map menus that pertain to different countries. In many
instances, this leads to another menu that offers a mix of contemporary and historical maps, some
centuries old. Maps from various journalistic sources pertaining to current and recent events also are
present. On the main menu, “Finding Information” provides links to other map sources and related
materials.
UNFAO
The official Web site of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (
http://www.fao.org
)
is a treasure trove of statistics on global — you guessed it — food and agriculture. Here you can find
country-level data on all kinds of agricultural production, plus general economics, fisheries, forestry,
