NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAPS KNOW NO BOUNDARIES

National Geographic Maps is now creating more cartographic tools than ever to educate people about the world and help them explore it. With uncompromising accuracy and attention to detail, they include maps and guidebooks for travelers, maps on CD-ROMs and the Web, new versions of atlases and globes, and an atlas for children.

Road Atlas. Available in three versions, this comprehensive planner for interstate and city travel in the United States, Mexico and Canada features everything necessary to choose destinations, plan routes and navigate confidently. National Geographic’s travel experts have selected special historic and scenic routes. Many city, downtown and park insets.

GuideMaps. Sturdy, laminated fold-out maps of 15 popular destinations such as Colorado, Texas and Massachusetts give visitors recreational, cultural and historic information as well as state highway maps and close-up street views of major downtown areas.

Trails Illustrated Maps. These topographical maps are hiking and trail navigation guides for more than 50 national parks and 100 other outdoor destinations. They are updated regularly to reflect trail, campground and road changes. Water-proof and tear-proof, they fold to pocket size. They also provide other trip-planning information such as back-country safety.

Destination Maps of National Parks. Combining guidebook-style material with map, this series features detailed, shaded relief maps with park roads, trails and landmarks. A booklet offers visitor-service information, photos, park history and suggested itineraries. Three new map titles provide travel details for tourists and outdoor enthusiasts.

TrailSmart CD-ROMs. Updated digital topographic maps with trip-planning information for America’s leading parks, these CD-ROMs may be used by hikers, campers and other outdoor enthusiasts to plan wilderness trips and create detailed, personalized maps. Integrated with the full-color topographic maps, the TOPO! GPS map browser provides tools to plan a route, find a campsite, print the perfect map and download information into handheld GPS receivers. TOPO! GPS makes it easy to navigate the maps in three dimensions, generate instant elevation profiles, measure true overland terrain distance, overlay navigational grids, access real-time coordinates, export Internet-ready maps and print custom trail maps.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine maps. These maps fall into two main categories: supplement maps, which are folded and inserted into the magazine five or six times a year, and page maps, which are specially designed to guide readers through the magazine’s articles. The renowned supplement maps have ranged in scope from the interior of the Earth to the far reaches of the universe. They have followed the world’s whales, measured the depths of the Grand Canyon and journeyed to medieval England. These maps have been illustrated by hundreds of award-winning artists, state-of-the-art satellite imagery and computer graphics. National Geographic magazine’s special millennium issues have featured supplement maps on exploration, the physical world and biodiversity. Recent page maps included a guide to the World War II Battle of Midway, a cartographic look at threats to coral reefs of the world, and a who’s who of musical greats along the Blues Highway from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Maps on CD-ROM. Two-time Codie Award winner, this unprecedented archive includes every fold-out map published by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine, multimedia map tours and an interactive timeline that traces the evolution of mapping and more.

Atlas of the World. A standard reference in homes, schools and libraries worldwide, the seventh edition will be published in fall 1999. It is being developed with the use of a U.S.$3.2 million digital database that combines the precision of geographic information systems technology with the artistry of shaded relief. More than 2 million copies of earlier editions of this highly respected atlas have been sold.

Globes. A new generation of globes created for the millennium builds on the popular series of political and physical globes. When lit up, an illuminated globe reveals the earth’s physical features; when not illuminated the colorful sphere shows political information. National Geographic Maps produced what is reputed to be the world’s largest free-standing globe: a hand-painted, rotating sphere, 11 feet in diameter, on display in Explorers Hall, the Society’s headquarters museum.

Wall maps. National Geographic Maps has completely redesigned its signature world map. Using the Winkel Tripel projection, developed in Europe to show the round earth on flat paper with minimal distortion, this map incorporates the latest political changes in the world. To mark the millennium the Society donated 128,000 laminated 4-by-6 foot copies of this map to every school in the United States and Canada. Other maps include renderings of continents, countries, regions, space and themes such as Battlefields of the Civil War, Native American Heritage and Whales of the World.

World Atlas for Young Explorers. A showcase of the earth and its inhabitants in 176 large-format pages, this atlas for children features up-to-date color maps, photographs and art that tie history, cultures and the economy to the physical world. For more information, on the latest GPS News see gps maps.

Author Notes:

Glenn Silverberg contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.handheld-gps-reviews.com.  A wealth of information about Global Positioning Systems for commercial or personal use.