This interactive map from the US Department of Agriculture displays US land use areas by color. Clicking on a region of the map takes you to a page featuring a blown-up map and a paragraph describing the major land use of the area (e.g., agriculture, residential, industrial, etc.). From there, you can also access regional elevation, climate, water, and soil information.

The Pimeria was a region (never defined with any exacting detail) of Spanish colonial Mexico that encompassed what is now southern Arizona and northern Sonora. Derived from the Pima Indians who live in the region, the name first appeared on a map prepared in 1696. This online collection consists of over thirty separate maps, ranging in date from 1556 to 1854. Each map features detailed cataloging...

Guess what: On the National Atlas website you can find and make thousands of maps. It's just as interesting as it sounds to let these maps "tell their own stories." This work began as part of an effort to create a new national atlas back in 1997, and since that time it has grown exponentially to include participatory mapping, fact sheets, and much more. Its "father" atlas was created in 1970 and...

Those interested in aerial photographs, satellite images, or maps as ways to conceptualize the world, will find this site interesting, entertaining, and educational. The US Dept. of Interior offers a National Atlas of the United States, an interactive resource that allows users to view part or all of the US and overlay layers of information including natural features, political boundaries, federal...

Associated with the School of Computer Science at Florida International University, the High Performance Database Research Center (HPDRC) released TerraFly in November 2001, a Web-based application that allows users to view Geographic Information Systems (GIS) images. In agreement with TerraFly, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) provides the project with many of its satellite images in...

Have you ever walked by a busy street corner and wondered what was there 20, 30, 50, or 60 years ago? If you have, the WhatWasThere site may be able to provide you with answers. The premise of the site is simple: the team at WhatWasThere has provided a platform where anyone can upload a photograph with two tags (location and year) so that others can learn more about the built environment. Visitors...

If you desire to travel around the world with just a few clicks, you may wish to peruse the cornucopia of maps and atlases collected by the Wisconsin Historical Society. All told, there are more than 3,000 maps currently available online with the majority focusing on the Badger State, the Midwest, and the United States more broadly. It is worth noting that approximately 80 percent of the...