Designed as a companion Web site to Compton's 3D Atlas CD-ROM, this site is useful whether you own the software or not. Best clicks are Countries of the World, Geographic Glossary and the geography Web links listed under 3D Atlas Topics. The location of any place or feature on the Earth's surface can be shown on a map or globe. Maps and globes of the moon, the planets, or the sky as seen from the Earth may also be made. This great introduction to the many benefits of maps is written for the elementary-age crowd by Compton's Encyclopedia.
Political maps show the boundaries of governmental entities such as countries, states and provinces.
Physical maps display geological features like mountain ranges, rivers and lakes. Not just an online version of a printed atlas, National Geographic's Map Machine lets you create and save your own customized maps. A few examples of your mapping choices include Degree of Ecosystem Threats, Annual Precipitation, Recent Earthquakes or Mineral Resources. Encounter the options available to our cartographers and the tools that help them face the challenge of portraying a round Earth on flat maps. The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints.