Links to maps, geographic data, and other related stuff

  • GIS Data
  • Since most net-accessible datasets are produced by government organizations, they fall within the limits of political boundaries. Therefore, I have listed the sets below in alphabetical order by country, and then by first order subdivision and/or locale. Those produced by regional or non-governmental organizations that cross political boundaries are generally listed multiple times under each country or state that they include
    Africa
    Antarctica
    Argentina
    Australia
      New South Wales
    NSW's Community Access to Natural Resource Infromation (CANRI) includes metadata and several interactive map display capabilities
      Northern Territories
    The Northern Territories Land Information System, NTLIS, is the state's node on the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure, featuring a metadata index and the NT portion of the Australia Coastal Atlas on-line mapping capability
      Queensland
      South Australia
      Tasmania
    The LIST, or Land Information System of Tasmania, is the state's node on the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure, with metadata available through subscription
      Victoria
    Victoria's GI Connections is the state's node on the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure
      Western Australia
    WALIS, the Western Australia Land Information System, is a well developed site with extensive metadata and a good interactive map display capability.
    Austria
    Belgium Belgium's national mapping agency - ordering information
    Brazil
    Brunei Environmental Information Resource Center has a fairly cumbersome but apparently large metadata listing
    Cameroon CARPE, or the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, is a program sponsored by USAID with a GIS data site hosted by University of Maryland that includes .shp files of roads, rivers, rails, lakes and contours at scale equivalents from 1:100k to 1:1 mil. Most data originates from DCW and the World Resource Institute's 1995 Africa Data Sampler.
    Canada
    • Natural Resources Canada's - GEOConnexions Discovery Portal, from Canada's national mapping agency, with lots of good information about data and products, but little in the way of free downloads
    • GeoGratis, from Natural Resources Canada, is a comprehensive, and very slick, site for free vector data from several different datasets as well as satellite imagery over Canada.
         British Columbia
    • BioRain - GIS data in shapefile format, focus on biological resources
    Central African Republic CARPE, or the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, is a program sponsored by USAID with a GIS data site hosted by University of Maryland that includes .shp files of roads, rivers, rails, lakes and contours at scale equivalents from 1:100k to 1:1 mil. Most data originates from DCW and the World Resource Institute's 1995 Africa Data Sampler. Also includes population data, protected areas coverages and vegetation data.
    China
    Congo CARPE, or the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, is a program sponsored by USAID with a GIS data site hosted by University of Maryland that includes .shp files of roads, rivers, rails, lakes and contours at scale equivalents from 1:100k to 1:1 mil. Most data originates from DCW and the World Resource Institute's 1995 Africa Data Sampler. Also includes population data, protected areas coverages and vegetation data.
    Costa Rica The Costa Rica Geospatial Data Clearinghouse is a cooperative effort of the University of Kansas, the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), and the USGS Eros Data Center (EDC). This clearinghouse node is a prototype for the Inter-American Geospatial Data Network (IGDN), and focuses primarily on biodiversity and natural resource maps.
    Czech Republic Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre -?lt;/td>
    Democratic Republic of Congo CARPE, or the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, is a program sponsored by USAID with a GIS data site hosted by University of Maryland that includes .shp files of roads, rivers, rails, lakes and contours at scale equivalents from 1:100k to 1:1 mil. Most data originates from DCW and the World Resource Institute's 1995 Africa Data Sampler. Also includes population data, protected areas coverages and vegetation data.
    Denmark
    Equatorial Guinea CARPE, or the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, is a program sponsored by USAID with a GIS data site hosted by University of Maryland that includes .shp files of roads, rivers, rails, lakes and contours at scale equivalents from 1:100k to 1:1 mil. Most data originates from DCW and the World Resource Institute's 1995 Africa Data Sampler. Also includes population data, protected areas coverages and vegetation data.
    Estonia
    • Baltic Sea Region GIS - a result of the EU-sponsored Baltic Drainage Basin Project. Boundaries, population, land use, drainage coverages in Arc/Info, MapInfo and IDRISI formats
    • Estonian Atlas - can't download data, but a good, large scale interactive map capability
    Fiji (yes, Fiji) Prototype Social Atlas of Fiji - by Marc Schlossberg, a Peace Corps Volunteer with Fiji's Ministry for Regional Development from 1995 to 1997; can't get at the data, but the maps are great
    Finland
    • National Land Survey of Finland - lots of data, lots of formats, pay for access to most of it, but a free site with a viewing capability
    • Baltic Sea Region GIS - a result of the EU-sponsored Baltic Drainage Basin Project. Boundaries, population, land use, drainage coverages in Arc/Info, MapInfo and IDRISI formats
    Gabon CARPE, or the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, is a program sponsored by USAID with a GIS data site hosted by University of Maryland that includes .shp files of roads, rivers, rails, lakes and contours at scale equivalents from 1:100k to 1:1 mil. Most data originates from DCW and the World Resource Institute's 1995 Africa Data Sampler. Also includes population data, protected areas coverages and vegetation data.
    Germany
    Hungary The Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing
    Iceland Java-based Iceland Transportation GIS application
    Italy
    • TuttoCitta has a great interactive map that goes down to city street level with various coverages that can be turned on or off- kind of a high-content MapQuest(r)-like page for Italy
    • The Military Geography Institute of Italy has a page with a catalogue of available digital products and ordering information
    Japan
    Laos The International Steering Committee for Global Mapping has a 1:1 million VPF data set produced by the National Geographic Department of Laos
    Latvia Baltic Sea Region GIS - a result of the EU-sponsored Baltic Drainage Basin Project. Boundaries, population, land use, drainage coverages in Arc/Info, MapInfo and IDRISI formats
    Lithuania Baltic Sea Region GIS - a result of the EU-sponsored Baltic Drainage Basin Project. Boundaries, population, land use, drainage coverages in Arc/Info, MapInfo and IDRISI formats
    Malaysia Malaysia's National Land Information System - Data access page
    Mexico
    Nepal The International Steering Committee for Global Mapping has a 1:1 million VPF data set produced by the Survey Department of Nepal
    Netherlands
    New Zealand Land Information New Zealand is the national mapping agency, with several textual databases online, limited access to raster versions of stnadard small scale maps, and instructions for ordering vector data.
    Nicaragua Clearinghouse de Datos Geoespaciales de Nicaragua originated in the USGS-led mapping effort in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The site has good metadata coverage of a wide range of political, economic and natural resource data, along with jpg's of maps of much of the data, but no downloadable files in any GIS format.
    Norway Statens Kartwerk; apparently has access to free data with a registration. I don't handle Norwegian well so can't really tell for certain.
    Philippines The International Steering Committee for Global Mapping has a 1:1 million VPF data set produced by the Philippines National Mapping and Resource Information Authority
    Poland
    • Baltic Sea Region GIS - a result of the EU-sponsored Baltic Drainage Basin Project. Boundaries, population, land use, drainage coverages in Arc/Info, MapInfo and IDRISI formats
    • Polish Academy of Science has a page of links to sites pertaining to GIS in Poland, to include data sources
    Portugal
    Qatar Qatar's Centre for GIS - Good site, interactive map server, data for sale only
    Romania Geo Strategies SA - Commercial firm; selling detailed topo, cadastral, geophysical and other data for Romania, with similar sets available for other eastern European countries
    Russia
    Slovenia Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia - ordering information
    South Africa The National Spatial Information Framework has metadata searchable through either a forms based or a map interface
    Spain Centro Nacional de Informacion Geografica (CNIG) -
    Sri Lanka The International Steering Committee for Global Mapping has a 1:1 million VPF data set produced by the Survey Department of Sri Lanka
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Thailand
    United Kingdom
    United States
      Alabama
      Alaska
      Arizona
      Arkansas
    • Center for Advanced Spatial Studies, from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
    • University of Arkansas also provides the GeoStor, which serves a multitude of data, including the full suite of USGS raster and vector datasets over Arkansas; TIGER line files; and many thematic files derived by the University and the state of Arkansas.

      Cities:

      • Fayetteville has a great site with imagery in Mr Sid or tif, shape files, and other data.
      California
      Colorado
      Connecticut
    • Map and Geographic Info Center - MIF and E00 coverages of a wealth of state-produced and maintained data, plus DRGs and DEMs
    • UNH Dimond Library - Historical topo maps of New England - jpeg format, about 1.5 to 2 meg each, maps going back as far as 1893
      Delaware
      Florida
      Georgia
      Hawaii
      Idaho
      Illinois
      Indiana
    • The Lake Rim GIS from the Indiana Geological Survey covers Northwest Indiana and provides downloadable data with a primarily natural resource and environmental orientation.

      Cities:

      • Indianapolis GIS page
      • The Electronic Atlas of Central Indiana is produced by the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis University Libraries, and has downloadable data from national and state sources for the nine counties of the Indianapolis MSA
      • DeKalb County and the cities of Auburn, Butler and Garrett are partners in CoCiGIS, or county-city GIS, the site contains project info but as of last check just the promise of data
      Iowa
      Kansas
      Kentucky
      Louisiana
      Maine
    • Maine Office of GIS, data catalog with access to all coverages in E00 format
    • Kennebunk- Town GIS office has form to request Autocad or ArcView files
      Maryland
      Massachusetts
    • MassGIS, download orthophotos in TIFF or MrSID format, comprehensive vector data tilled by county or statewide in E00 or SHP format
    • The Massachusetts Electronic Atlas advertises over 250 data layers, courtesy of Harvard University
    • UNH Dimond Library - Historical topo maps of New England - jpeg format, about 1.5 to 2 meg each, maps going back as far as 1893

      Cities:

      Michigan
      Minnesota
      Mississippi
    Mississippi Automated Resource Information System (MARIS) - Wide variety of coverages, E00 and SHP format
      Missouri
    Missouri Spatial Data Information System - Missouri's NSDI node, downloadable through ftp in E00 format, with metadata
      Montana
      Nebraska
      Nevada
      New Hampshire
    • GRANIT - Land use, physical,?and other state-wide data
    • UNH Dimond Library - Historical topo maps of New England - jpeg format, about 1.5 to 2 meg each, maps going back as far as 1893
      New Jersey
      New Mexico
      New York
      North Carolina
      North Dakota
      Ohio
      Oklahoma
      Oregon
      Pennsylvania
      Rhode Island
    • Rhode Island GIS - free access with registration
    • UNH Dimond Library - Historical topo maps of New England - jpeg format, about 1.5 to 2 meg each, maps going back as far as 1893
      South Carolina
      Tennessee
      Texas
      Utah
      Vermont
      Virginia
      Washington
      West Virginia
      Wisconsin
      Wyoming
    Uruguay Uruguay's Clearinghouse Nacional de Datos Geograficos - free downloads with registration
    Vietnam BDT & Associates has physical, social and political data over Vietnam in MapInfo format, with high resolution urban sets for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Most is for purchase (expensive), but a free point file of 1100 populated places is available.

    The Mapdawg pages:

    Mapdawg home
    GIS Organizations- links to selected organizations involved in the production, use, and development of GIS and related geographic tools and spatial data
    GIS Software- Primarily vendors
    Geography and GIS Resources on the internet- sites with general info on the field
    The Mapdawg Old Map page steps back in time away from the GIS high tech world
    send email to the Mapdawg

    Other stuff:

    Search the web using Alta Vista
    In the unlikely event you can't find what you need, search farther with Dogpile
    Mario's Cyberspace Station, a wonderful and unique news site, courtesy of my friend, Mario Profaca