Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Services:
Gazetters and Digital Maps

• Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) - provided by the U.S. Geological Survey - interactive database - "contains information about almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references are made to a feature's location by State, county, and geographic coordinates. The GNIS is our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic names information."
• We also have GNIS on CD-ROM at Davis Library Electronic Resource I19.120:G25
• Columbia Gazetteer of the World "includes over 165,000 place names, and will be updated continually and improved with new features, such as maps, census data, and population density" (from vendor website). Note that off-campus access is restricted to UNC-CH affiliates.
• GEOnet Names Server "provides access to the National Imagery and Mapping Agency's (NIMA) database of foreign geographic feature names. Approximately 20,000 of the databases 3.5 million features are updated monthly with names information approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (US BGN)."
  
• Britain Ordnance Survey's Place Name Gazetteer includes a quarter of a million British place names. Searches return place name, unitary authority, description, grid reference, locations in latitude/longitude, and a list of maps covering the area (maps are for sale).
• Canadian Geographical Names
  

This is a list of sites with ready-made maps.

• Atlapedia Online
• Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC). University of Connecticut
  
• The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. University of Texas at Austin
  
• TopoZone 1:100,000, 1:25,000, and 1:24,000 scale USGS topographic maps for the United States.
• David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

• American FactFinder Census Bureau. Choose "Reference Maps", "Thematic Maps", or "Basic Facts-Maps".
• MSN Maps and Directions Lets you create street maps that you can email, download, or print out.
• MapMachine National Geographic and ESRI.
• MapQuest Geosystems. Includes U.S. street maps, city maps, and an interactive atlas.
  
• National Atlas of the United States (nationalatlas.gov) Use this site for interactive mapping and downloading spatial data.
• Online Map Creation Using "Generic Mapping Tools" (GMT), this site creates maps from latitude and longitude coordinates. Maps can include bathymetry, topography, national boundaries, rivers and channels, cities, etc. Also available are plate tectonic features such as ridges, trenches, faults, and magnetic lineations.

Return to GIS Services

For more GIS assistance,
Please contact Amanda C. Henley, GIS Librarian
amanda.henley@unc.edu
(919) 962-1151

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