The group over at Natural Earth have put together a great collection of public domain map data and made it freely available online. There are numerous global datasets provided at several different scales. Bad news is most of the data is provided in SHP file format, which does not import directly into the free version of Google Earth. Good news is I have taken the following 13 map layers and converted them for Google Earth.
- Base Map – Shaded Relief Map
- Oceans and Seas
- Lakes – Major Lakes
- Rivers – Major Rivers
- Geographic Areas – Great Plains, Congo Basin, etc.
- Geographic Points – Mountains, Depressions, etc.
- Geographic Lines – Date Line, Tropic Lines, etc.
- Glaciated Areas
- States – States, Provinces, etc.
- Urban Areas
- Cities – Major cities
Each layer can be turned on or off independently allowing you to mix and match the data however best fits your needs. Most of the features have been categorized by size or relative importance. Larger rivers have larger names and thicker lines. Larger cities have larger names and placemarks, etc. This makes it easy to generate a map of the data you need, and whether you’re planning O2 coverage areas or conducting research for a environmental paper.
Each layer is activated by a Network Link, which is typically between 1-5 megabytes. When you first enable a layer, it might take a minute to download. Also, slower computers might have a difficult time displaying some of the layers with colored polygons.
Below area few examples of what can be created with the Natural Earth Map Maker.