Introduction		Maps
Landforms	Weather and Climate	Human Impact on the Environment
Population	Cultural	Spatial Behavior
Political	Economic	Social Studies
Countries from the Big Blue Marble

Introduction

Where would we be without longitude and latitude?
Lost, that's where.
Longitude and latitude help geographers--and sailors and pilots and explorers--find precise points on our planet.
They are imaginary lines that encircle the Earth, vertically and horizontally.
But how can you remember which is which?
Does longitude bisect the planet vertically, like the sections of an orange? Or is that Latitude?
Remember this "longitude" has the sound "launch" in it.
And when you launch a rocket, it goes up.
So, lines of longitude are the ones that go up and down--vertically--on a map.
Latitude goes from left to right.

• GIS Dictionary - contains definitions for nearly one thousand terms related to Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

• Animated Atlas
  - a wonderful tool for integrating geography and history.

• The home page of the Association of American Geographers
  Offering information about the association itself, its publications, regional divisions and "specialty groups" (complete with e-mail addresses), and provides links to such other organizations as the Canadian Association of Geographers, the National Council for Geographic Education, and the National Geographic Society.

• Resource pages of National Geographic
  This page provides access to "Information Central," "Glad You Asked," and the resources of the "NGS Library" among other connections.

• National Geographic's Geoguide
  "Digital field-trips."

• National Geographic Map Machine - printable country, physical and political maps, star charts

• Ryerson University
  Learn about geography programs worldwide.

• University of Texas
  Offers a page on geography education where you can learn about geography programs worldwide.

• State University of New York at Buffalo
  One of the best general guides to geography resources on the Internet.

• University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
  One of the best general guides to geography resources on the Internet.

• Geography related Servers
  A useful guide to Geography-related Servers.

• About.com
  Former MiningCo.com well worth while. It features annotated net links to selected geographical resources, on-line maps, data, and weekly articles, along with a chat room and bulletin board.

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Maps

• Maps in a Hurry

• Graphic Maps

• Country Reports

• Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection
  Map related Web Sites is compiled and updated by the University of Texas. It is one of the most comprehensive map collections on the Internet.
  Printable - many with Longitude and Latitude

• Maps and GIS
  One of several useful Infomine Resource Collections of the University of California Library.

• Cartography Resources: Commercial Mapping
  George Mason University hosts Cartography Resources: Commercial Mapping as part of the WWW Virtual Library. This searchable website also provides access to related lists on remote sensing and GIS.

  The ProsperNet "Maps" home page contains a brief but varied set of map agency and map collection links.
  Many websites offer instructional material about specific cartographic projections, problems, properties, or techniques.

• University of Texas
  Like the above Texas site but select "Cartographic References." Each of the listed "Map Projections" has a brief history of the projection, its features, use, and appearance.

• Hunter College Map Projections
  Home page contains information relating to map projections. Also found: a number of projection identification "games" in the Globes and Amusements section and many links to various sources of maps with unique projections.

• The Peters Projection
  Dedicated to the projection created by Arno Peters to address some of the problems of existing maps. There are comparisons of the Peters and Mercator projections and a discussion of how the maps we use influence the way we view the world.

• Mapquest by GeoSystems Global Corporation
  An on-line interactive map service that includes a brief history of Cartography and the "Map Room: Map Skills department with exercises to help you learn the grid system, scale, and map projections .

• The Geographer's Craft program
  The Department of Geography at the University of Texas, Austin, has a detailed "Overview" discussion of map projections. It also provides access to related courses on coordinate systems, geodetic datums, and global positioning systems.

• How Far is it?
  An interactive program that determines the latitude and longitude of a place and calculates the distance between any two cities in the United States.

• The U.S. Geological Survey has a number of Fact Sheets to assist in map reading.
  • Index
  • Exploring Maps
  • What Do Maps Show
  • Finding-your-Way
  • What do maps show?
  • For Teachers

  Geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques are of increasing interest to student and professional geographers. Index sites can help you get acquainted with the Internet resources on those topics include the following.

• Geographic Information Systems WWW Resource
  An alphabetically arranged list of GIS-related sites maintained by the University of Edinburgh. Of special note is the ARCINFO Tutorial, a step-by-step guide to basic ARC/INFO commands that create, edit, and produce geographic data.

• GIS and Remote Sensing Sites
  List of worldwide sites that is a component of the Utrecht University's Nice Geography Sites.

• WWW Virtual Library: Remote Sensing Organizations is complete listing of remote sensing organizations throughout the world, along with its companion site, Other Information.
  • Virtual Organizations
    
  • Virtual and Other Information
  
  

• Ohio State University's Global Positioning System Resources
  Ohio State University provides an extensive overview of GPS technology, with links to other GPS sites.

  Various governmental agencies and private companies maintain home pages.

• USGS National Mapping Information
  A home page of the U.S. Geological Survey, provides accurate and up-to-date cartographic data for the United States. Its "Educational Resources" option gives access to earth science educational material for teachers and (K-12) students.

• Canada's National Atlas Information Service
  Develops and maintains an authoritative synthesis of the geography of Canada.

Landforms

• Physical Geography Resources
  Prof. James E. Burt at University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains a site that includes images, data sets, and data libraries. Entries are arranged by subject, followed by a list of some popular information libraries.

• Images and Movies
  Also included at the University of Wisconsin-Madison an excellent archive of images and movies.

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
  A prime federal government source of earth science information is the government.

  Below are sites of particular relevance to the study of landforms.

• This dynamic Planet
  This site contains text and figures depicting volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters, and plate tectonics.

• Cascade Volcano Observatory Home Page
  Maintained by the USGS via the Cascades Volcano Observatory. It has a comprehensive list of volcanoes, offers information on volcanically induced geologic and hydrologic hazards, and contains a photo archive of volcanoes and volcanic phenomena. It includes links to other components of the USSGS Volcano Hazards Program, such as the Alaska and Hawaii Volcano Observatory and the international Volcano Disaster Assistance Program.

• Earthquake Information
  The USGS-Geologic Division offers a wealth of earthquake data. Information on recent earthquakes as well as historical events is available, along with predictive intensity maps, research on crustal deformation, and a tutorial on how the epicenter of a quake is calculated.

• Coasts in Crisis
  A USGS publication describes the ever-changing nature of coastlines, and both the natural and human causes of coastal change.

• Michigan Tech Volcano Page
  Information about current global volcanic activity, research in remote sensing of volcanoes and their eruptive products, hazard mitigation, links to government agencies and research institutions, and even some volcano humor.

• Virtual Earthquake
  Created by California State University/Los Angeles, is a simulation that enables students to locate the epicenter of an earthquake and determine its magnitude on the Richter scale. Students can choose from four geographic areas for their simulation.

• Space Radar Images of Earth
  The Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech University maintains several interesting websites. Space Radar Images of Earth are available for categories such as geology, oceans, rivers, glaciers, and volcanoes.

• Global Time Series
  Measurements made with the Global Positioning System are sensitive enough to detect motion of the earth's tectonic plates. Click on a map of the world to see time series of latitude, longitude, and height. Horizontal velocities, mostly due to motion of the earth's tectonic plates, are represented on the maps by arrows extending from each site.

• Hydrology-Related Internet Resources, or HydroWeb
  A large list of links related to the hydrologic sciences, is maintained at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Environmental Technology Division (ETD).

Weather and Climate

• Weather Net
  Sponsored by the Weather Underground at the University of Michigan, calls itself "the Internet's premier source of weather information." It provides access to thousands of forecasts, images, and the Net's largest collection of weather links. Also available are the latest short-and medium-range computer model graphics, tabular forecast output and National Weather Service discussions. There are pictures of weather conditions at more than 120 places in North America, surface and upper-air analyses, including temperature maps, regional weather plots, and jet stream maps.

• Climate and Radiation Branch
  The NASA-Goddard site provides information about ongoing research projects. Although some of the reports are rather technical in nature, there are excellent explanations of topics such as tropospheric aerosols, cloud raadiative processes, climate analysis, climate theory and modeling, and the use of satellite remote sensing.

• Weather Channel
  A popular cable television channel now maintains its own pages on the web. The site provides daily U.S. and international weather forecasts, maps and helpful weather information for teachers.

• Storm chasers
  Designed for the storm chaser to get the lattes weather information from the National Weather Service (NWS), and provides the NWS a place to receive chaser reports, inquires, and information from chasers.

• Tornado Project Online
  Provides information about tornadoes, their intensity, and common tornado myths.

• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
  One of the country's leading centers for oceanographic research, maintains this comprehensive resource covering a wide variety of oceanographic information.

• NOAA
  Describes and predicts changes in the earth's environment, and conserve and manage wisely the nation's coastal and marine resources to ensure sustainable economic opportunities.

• National Weather Service Welcome Page
  The government source for weather information. There are links to the NOAA climatic and historic data records.

• Storm Prediction Center
  The National Severe Storms Laboratory within NOAA monitors and forecasts severe weather for the continental United States. The site has the latest information about severe weather and a large historical archive of information back to 1950.

• Tropical Prediction Center
  Located in Miami, Florida maintains a home page. Its branch, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), tracks tropical cyclones over the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Pacific from May through November.

• NOAA Western Region
  Extensive climatological and weather data for the Western United States. It has a text-only option for faster loading (no images).

• NOAAIPMELITAO El Nino Theme
  Describes the regional and global consequences of the El Nino phenomenon, as well as discussing prediction methods and models.

• Tracking El Nino--NOVA Online Adventure
  The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) enables users to discover the effect of El Nino on global weather. Satellite images enhance the textual descriptions.

• Bibliography on the El Nino Phenomenon
  Maintained by the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) at Florida State University.

Human Impact on the Environment

Many websites are maintained by governmental organizations, academic institution and nonprofit organizations concerned with various aspects of the environment.

• EnviroLink
  This site advertises itself as the world's largest environmental information archive on-line and the clearinghouse for all on-line environmental information. Collections include the EnviroLink Library and the EnviroNews Service.

• Environmental Organization WebDirectory
  Contains a comprehensive listing of thousands of environmental sites on the World Wide Web, ranging alphabetically from agriculture to wildlife. Each subject category listed on its home page leads to an extensive set of links usually arranged by organizations, area, and subtopics.

• WWW Virtual Library: Environment
  Maintained by Earth Systems, Inc. is divided by subject, including atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Use them for links to a wide variety of organizations, topics and reports. The site also has an exhaustive "List of Environmental Resources," and links to other related Virtual Library subjects.

• National Institute for the Environment
  A national, nonprofit, nonregulatory organization concerned with disseminating environmental information, particularly through its developing "National Library for the Environment." The library features Congressional Research reports, texts of environmental laws, and population, environment, and biodiversity linkages.

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  Includes information about agency programs concerning land, air, and water systems. Resources for students and teachers are also noted.

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  Through its many offices, supplies thousands of pages of Internet information, including material and linkages on resource management, migratory birds, waterfowl and wetlands, and endangered species. All topics are easily accessed through the search link form the Service's home page.

• U.S. Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO)
  A product of the Global Change Research Program and several governmental agencies and organizations, provides access to data and information on global change research and educational resources. A changing selection of "Showcase Links" is a feature of the home page, and its "Global Change Resources" provides access to bibliographic databases and to selected documents and publications.

• EE-Link
  Provides environmental education facts, data, and activities for use in K-12 classrooms, from the National Consortium for Environmental Education and Training.

• Green Lane (on the Information Highway)
  Canada has an extensive set of governmental and nongovernmental environmental agencies and websites. This website reviews current issues and data sources, links to regional "Green Lane" sites, and the text of important official environmental publications.

• Canada Centre for Inland Waters
  A major source for water research, with particular emphasis on the Great Lakes through its "Great Lakes Information Management Resource." That and other information sources are accessible through the Centre's home page.

  Many nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations maintain home pages. You will find reference to most of them through the linked websites already mentioned.

  • Center for Marine Conservation
    

  • Greenpeace International
    

  • National Wildlife Federation
    

  • Nature Conservancy's Wired for conservation
    

  • Resources for the Future
    

  • Sierra Club home page
    

  • World Resources Institute
    

Population

• World Wide Web Virtual Library--Demography and Population Studies
  An efficient way of starting a search for population materials is to use a subject resource guide in one of the most extensive catalogs.

• The Census Bureau Home Page
  The leading sources for U.S. population data as well as social, economic and demographic statistics - indexed by subject. There are also data maps and links to other population websites.

• The Census Bureau's State Census Data Center
  Provides population estimates, employment reports, economic indicators, and other data at state, county, and city levels. Existing state data center websites may be accessed from the single source.

• The National Center for Health Statistics
  Provides information on access to reports and statistics about births, deaths, marriages, fertility rates, etc.

  SERVICE

• TIGER Map Service maps for Web pages from U.S.Census

  World population information is found at a number of sites.

• United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN)
  Reports world, regional, and country-level demographic trends, and is a good source for historical world population growth, urbanization, child mortality estimates, AIDS impact, etc. Full text regional reports and newsletters are also available, including country Health Profiles of the Pan American Health Organization. The site is linked to many other population home pages and includes a world wide directory of population organizations and institutions.

• The United Nations Population Fund
  This organization assists developing countries in their reproductive health and family planning services. Its website provides on-line access to its current "State of World Population" annual report, to various technical reports and general interest publications, and links tolerated UN and non-governmental organization home pages.

• Population Reference Bureau
  A principal source of demographic data used in many newspaper and journal reports, gives current-year demographic statistics for more than 190 countries in its World Population Data Sheet available on its website as well as the full-text PRB newsletter, Population Today , and a website "hot list" for population matters

• PopNet
  Maintained by the Population Reference Bureau, is dedicated to providing comprehensive data on global population issues. Dubbing itself "the source for global population information," it presents data on such topics as demographic statistics, education, environment, economics, gender and reproductive health; in addition, it has multiple links to websites of governmental and nongovernmental domestic and international organizations and university centers. PopNet can be reached through the Population Reference Bureau website (above) or directly through this link.

• Demographic and Health Surveys
  A primary information source on matters of fertility, maternal and child health, and household living conditions in developing countries.

• WHOSIS
  World Health Organization sponsors this site. It describes and provides access to statistical data and information available from the WHO and elsewhere in electronic and other forms.

• International Programs Center ((IPC)
  Provides a wealth of comparative statistics for all world countries. Included are population, life tables, migration, ethnicity, language, religion, vital statistics, labor force and economic data, and more. Summary tables and maps are available, as are software and applications of interest to demographers.

• CIA World Factbook
  Valuable text and statistical supplements on population can be found at this site sponsored by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The site contains demographic, economic, and social information for more than 260 countries, including data on population, vital statistics, ethnic composition, religions, languages, net migration and more.

  Population associations and information source guides may help you gain access to other useful databases, bibliographies and agencies. Following are a few of interest.

• Population Association of America
  Reports its activities in its full-text newsletter.

• Internet Resources for Demographers
  A collection of demographic Internet sites categorized under "North American Demography," "International Demography," General Demography," etc."

• Population Index on the Web
  The Office of Population Research of Princeton University hosts this site, presenting on-line the most important bibliographic record to the world's population literature taken from the journal Population Index . The database from 1986 onward is searchable by author, subject, matter geographical region, and date.

• Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG)--Demography
  

• Popline
  This site is from the Johns Hopkins University Population Information Program, a searchable bibliographic database of over 250,000 records covering worldwide literature on population, family planning and health issues.

• Intlpop
  Try downloading this program developed at Virginia Tech., software that allows users to manipulate data on fertility, mortality and migration levels of country populations and track the consequences of those changes on population size, growth, and age structure.

Cultural

Cultural Geography includes nearly all the topics and concerns of human life. These can be found on websites by private citizens, groups, academic and nongovernmental organizations, domestic and international agencies, and others. The following is a sample of what to begin with in search of Cultural Geography.

• Foreign Language Resources on the Web
  Offers links to web pages with foreign language/culture-specific interests. Arranged by language, each citation contains a brief summary of the website contents and emphasis.

• Language Links
  A listing of multilanguages sites oriented towards language instructors but with significant cultural content.

• Ethnologue
  A near complete review of all the world's languages; it lists 6,703 of them. They can be viewed by area and by country. A small but increasing number of maps shows language distribution within individual countries, while a language-family index shows how the various languages are related--one guide to past human migration patterns.

• World Internet Directory: Religion
  An exhaustive listing of websites representing a massive array of religious, atheist, and agnostic interests.

• Voice of the Shuttle: Minority Studies Page
  Several U.S. universities or their members maintain websites concerned with various aspects of ethnic studies. Alan Liu at the University of California-Santa Barbara created this site. It contains links to general resource sites and ethnic-specific home pages (African American; Asian American; Chicano, Latino, Hispanic, etc).

• National Association for Ethnic Studies
  Located at Kansas State, it provides linked references to other university ethnic studies programs and to a number of ethnic websites and other ethnic-related resources.

• The Feminist Internet Gateway
  A compilation of global feminism sites maintained by organizations. The sites are resource centers providing information on publications, position papers, and international meetings and programs.

• Feminism and Women's Resources
  A listing of women's studies and women-related sources on the Internet; wide-ranging, but with a Canadian emphasis.

• Women Watch--The UN Internet Gateway on the Advancement and Empowerment of Women
  Provides information on national and international efforts for women's interests and advancement. The site features information of UN global conferences on women, presents summaries of regional plans of action furthering female empowerment, and includes a collection of annotated related links.

• Cultural Studies Center
  Created by Sarah Zupko, this site is a collection of annotated links to popular culture and cultural studies, including journals, articles, academic programs, bibliographic references, film, television, etc.

Spatial Behavior

Forced and voluntary migration and refugee flights are both clear expressions of human spatial behavior and among the pressing concerns of human geography. Websites dealing with these forms of human spatial interaction include international and national governmental agencies, nongovernmental and charitable organizations and academic programs. Most have links to other related sites of potential interest.

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  This page leads to subsidiary UNHCR pages that include country-specific guide to special issues, tabular information about refugees, and access to hundreds of documents from the Center for Documentation REFWORLD databases.

• U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
  This site is devoted mainly to U.S. immigration concerns and regulations, but does have some statistical summaries from past IND annual reports.

• Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
  U.S. State Department’s page on "Refugees and Migration" gives reference and access to policy documents, official press statements, fact sheets, and links to related sites.

  Nongovernmental sites well worth exploring, many with statistical or descriptive data by subject or country, and nearly all with links to other sites and agencies, include the following.

• U.S. Committee for Refugees
  Describes its publications and provides access to teachers' aids, press releases, and links to related websites.

• Refugees International
  Claims to be "the independent and unfettered voice of refugees and displaced persons." Its website features "Refugee Issues" calling up RI documents, press releases, and news story reprints dealing with various world refugee crisis spots.

• Migration Home Page
  Hosted by the International Organization for Migration, this site constitutes an "electronic information clearing house of documents, data... and other migration-related information." This site highlights legislative topics, a constantly updated calendar of events, the migration network and more.

• Center for Migration Studies
  From New York, this site studies the "demographic, historical, economic, political, legislative and pastoral aspects of human migration and refugee movements." Its home page gives access to its publication list, library and archives, and research program information, and to the individual international Federation of Centers for Migration Studies.

  Some academic institutions have on-line resources related to other aspects of spatial behavior than migration.

• Project GeoSim
  Virginia Tech's page contains modules that provide exercises on such subjects as mental maps, sense of place, migration, and congressional apportionment. The modules are divided into a tutorial program and a simulation program.

• Mental Maps (MMap)
  This module is an interactive program that enables students to test their knowledge of the location of cities. Mental Maps may also be configured to ask questions about the cities, such as their population, average summer and winter temperatures, cost of living, and desirability as a residence for the user. This program can serve as a way of collecting information about students' perceptions about cities for further in-class discussion.

• Delaware Department of Public Instruction: Geography Standard One
  Describes mental mapping exercises for various grade levels and contains good ideas for ways to learn about mental maps.

• Physical Geography
  Pennsylvania Research interests of the faculty in physical geography are in the fields of climatology and biogeography.

• The Spatial and Temporal Diffusion of Democracy
  An interdisciplinary project at the University of Colorado-Boulder. It uses leading edge techniques to uncover the relationships between democracy and conflict. Although the page is mostly text description, there are links to several maps that show the diffusion of social characteristics across time and space.

Political

There are a large number of topics under the political geographic umbrella. The number of websites addressing those interests is also large, and the following are just a few of these. Most of those cited below are either guides to a variety of those general or specialized political sites or have valuable links to other organizational home pages.

• Official WEB Site Locator for the United Nations System
  This is a catalog of UN system websites linking directly to agencies by title, by subject matter interest, and by a search program. Links to other international organizations are also provided.

• Government Publications Library
  U.S. government site at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Although its connections to publications and agencies at the state and U.S. national level are extensive and valuable, the library's superb collection of links at the foreign country and international level makes it an indispensable reference tool. For information about countries other than the United States, follow its options through "Foreign Resources" at ...

• International Resources
  For links to various international agencies, such as the European Union, World Bank, and the United Nations and several of its organizations

• International Affairs Resources
  The World-Wide Web Virtual Library page provides this page with extensive links by type (e.g., periodical, statistical information); by source (e.g., primary sources, university centers); and by topic (foreign policy, international trade, peacekeeping, etc).

• The World Factbook 1997
  Published by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency with information on more than 250 countries. Geographic, economic, demographic, government, and other data are provided for each country for the latest year available.

  In addition to the general sites listed above, the Internet has a number of special topic sites related to political geography.

• The Law of the Sea and Ocean Affairs
  Maintained by the Council on Ocean Law contains an overview and the full text of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a list of ratifying countries, and links to such related conferences as that on high seas fisheries.

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
  Official home page.

• Political Boundary Links
  An index of websites related to territorial disputes and political boundaries is maintained by the international Boundaries Research Unit at Durham University.

• The World Trade Organization
  Established in 1995, this is the principal agency of the world's multilateral trading system. Its home page includes access to documents discussing international conferences, and agreements, reviewing its own publications and summarizing the current state of world trade.

• TRY AGAIN Elections and Electoral Systems by Country
  A page of pointers to the latest worldwide election news. This is maintained as part of the Political Science Resources page at the University of Keele in the United Kingdom. Information is available on more than 40 countries and can include election results, referendums, and electoral information.

• TRY AGAIN Keele's Political Science Resources Guide
  Considered among the better guides to worldwide political science resources.

• FedWorld Information Network
  Maintained by the National Technical Information Service of the U.S. Government. Technical Information Service helps people access federal government information online.

• The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) Maintained by the University of Illinois at Chicago is an indispensable site for research into U.S. foreign policy.

• Redistricting Rulings
  An up-to-date collection of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on legislative redistricting.

• Boulder Libraries
  University of Colorado provides extensive links to state government and municipality resources and pages.

• NOT OPEN CHECK AGAIN The Government of Canada
  Provides links through its federal organizations listing to all departments and agencies of the national government.

• University of Waterloo Electronic Library
  An updated guide to Canadian government information by subject, province, and municipality.

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