General Interest Sites
Here are general sites that provide basic information about countries and other resources for the geographically curious.
The World Factbook. Maintained by the CIA, this site contains a wealth of information on individual countries of the world. Regional and country reference maps are included. This is a good source for basic "facts" about countries, their economies, and their people.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
InfoNation. This site, maintained by the United Nations, contains basic information on countries. This site also allows the creation of graphs that compare attributes of up to five countries.
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm
National Atlas of the United States. This site allows the user to design and view a great variety of thematic maps of the United States. Layers can also be downloaded.
http://nationalatlas.gov/natlas/natlasstart.asp
Maps and Geography. This portion of the National Geographic Society's web site is an excellent source for maps of various types, many available to download at no cost. It also provides information about maps and their uses.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/
Terraserver. This site from Microsoft allows users to zoom and pan USGS aerial photographs and topographic maps at a variety of scales. Demographic, crime, education, health and safety, economy, housing, transportation, income, and cost of living data relating to the zip codes associated with particular topographic maps are displayed. http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/
Topozone. From Maps a la Carte. View topographic maps for anywhere in the U.S. The maps can be viewed and printed at a variety of scales; with the site's panning function, seamlessly view the contents of adjacent topographic sheets without an “edge” effect.
http://www.topozone.com/
Ruavista: Signs of the City. An eclectic collection of photographs, sounds, narratives, and videos from cities around the world. Several parts of this site are linked from other Places OnLine pages. Text in English, French, and Portuguese.
http://www.ruavista.com/index.html
