Maps and Places

Zip Code FAQ

Only the USA has Zip Codes – most other countries have the same thing, but call them Post Codes. Entire countries do not have Zip Codes or Post Codes – just use the country’s name. If you are non-USA, but need to fill in a web site form which asks for a Zip Code, try any of the following and see if it accepts it:

  • Your Post Code
  • Your Post Code with zeroes in front to make it 5 digits
  • n/a
  • 00000
  • 90210

Zip Code / Post Code Finders

Post Codes

Google (or Bing) Maps

If you haven’t done it yet, go to Google Maps and enter an address. Other related resources:

  • Google Maps Mania - unofficial blog tracking the websites, mashups and tools being influenced by Google Maps.
  • Google Sightseeing - highlights of what you can see at Google Maps.
  • Wikimapia - mashup that adds notations to locations
  • Bing Maps – previously known as (MSN/Windows) Live (Local/Maps) - (or whatever it was called that week), very similar to Google, but not as user-friendly. Sometimes aerial shots have better resolution

Global Gazetteers

All sorts of data, like latitude, longitude, population, altitude etc

  • Getty Thesaurus of Global Names - 1 million places, lots of Encyclopædia data
  • Also useful for latitude and longitude is the horoscope site AstroDienst, with a database of 254,106 towns
  • GEOnet Names Server - contains 3.81 million features with 5.24 million names. Not very user friendly, but has results in seconds of degrees (though often 00 or 30) and a reverse latitude/longitude look up
  • Melissa Data - nothing special or different

USA Gazetteers

  •  American Fact Finder – pulls up US Census data for any location
  • A more advanced search form is at the U.S. Geological Survey site. Their database contains 2 million physical and cultural geographic features, and results include links to many digital maps, including satellite images from TerraServer
  • Wealthy Zip Codes - based on average household income & average home property values
  • ZipWho - lots of year 200- census stats by zipcode, but lets you search by demographics, not just by ZIP code
  • City-Data - pictures, maps, satellite photos, stats about residents (race, income, ancestries, education, employment…), geographical data, crime data, weather, hospitals, schools, libraries, airports, radio and TV stations, zip codes, area codes, similar cities list, comparisons to averages… covers thousands of US cities

Print Maps and Digital Maps to Purchase

With thousands of print and digital maps available, Maps.com are easily the biggest online map store…Next best is Stanfords’ Maps, based in the UK .

How Far Is It?

Find out the distance between two places, the direction to head, the co-ordinates of each place, and maps from Xerox PARC. It is well designed and very easy to use. Acceptable query formats: Chicago, IL Jakarta 40:26:26N 79:59:46W Athens, Greece

From To

 

More Resources

    • World Atlas.com - portal full of maps, flags, facts and figures
    • DeLorme - professional maps and mapping software
    • Map Librarian’s Toolbox - for the professional
    • GPS City - online Global Positioning System store
    • Blank and Outline Maps - collections of blank and outline maps to print out for educational or personal use at home or in the classroom.
    • Internet Geography - an excellent resource for anyone studying high school level geography
    • Google Earth - fuses high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery, elevation data, GPS coordinates, and overlay information about cities and businesses to deliver a streaming, 3D map of the entire globe.

Satellite Photos:

    • Get Mapping - UK satellite maps
    • City2See - Australia satellite maps, free and for sale
    • Spatial Information Exchange - free, high-res, satellite pics of Sydney, Australia
    • TerraServer - free satellite maps, but only for some parts of the world, (can be searched by longitude and latitude)
    • TerraFly - using the “advanced find” option, enter a street address and see an aerial view of that address. The resolution can go down to one meter. Many images date back to the 1990s, with some going back to the 1970s. Mostly USA.

Google Earth is the king, but NASA World Wind is good too, and it can have global data via a live.msn.com plug-in.. Gazetteers:

    • Australia - 297,000 places
    • New Zealand - 40,000 places
    • UK Ordnance Survey - absolutely brilliant. High quality maps that you can print out. The best free map resource on the web
    • Scotland - an encyclopedia of places, people and features – no maps or co-ordinates
    • Canada - 500,000 places

Free Online Maps:

    • National Geographic Map Machine - huge resource, variety of maps worldwide
    • ShtetlSeeker – Central & Eastern Europe - uses maps from MapQuest
    • MapQuest  - online map creation on basis of input address. US based, but covers most countries
    • My Topo - over 65,000 topographic maps, nautical and aeronautical charts, aerial photographs and satellite images covering the United States. Browse, view, print and email the maps for free.
    • TopoZone - the Web’s first interactive topo map of the entire United States, (can be searched by longitude and latitude).
    • Navigate LA - Los Angeles GIS data
    • Atlas of Canada - hundreds of statistical and geographical maps of Canada and her provinces
    • Berkeley Pathfinder - thousands of online maps, most are pre-20th Century
    • Get-a-Map UK - from Ordnance Survey. You can search for maps anywhere in the UK simply by entering the place name, full postcode or National Grid reference – and print the maps or copy them for use on your personal or business web site.

Street & Road Maps:

Country Maps:

Other:

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