Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Map resources.
In creating
geographical maps for Wikipedia, it is often useful to have high-quality source material such as blank outline maps,
Adobe Photoshop or
GIMP-format images with layers,
SVG files and so on. If you have such source material that you think may be helpful to other map authors, please feel free to upload it to Wikipedia and list it here.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. Most of the maps scanned by the General Libraries and served from this web site are in the public domain. They can be tagged with
commons:Template:PCL (
talk,
backlinks,
) but also needs the appropriate copyright tag which depends on the source.
GMT (Generic Mapping Tools) GPL'd software for generating maps. Comes with map data derived from two public domain databases.
United Nations Cartographic Section has many free maps in PDF format, at least some with the layers intact. However most UN maps are under UN copyright, so check before uploading. See
here for their policy,
this page about requesting permission.
USGS Maps. Every USGS topographic map available for free download from the Internet Archive.
OpenStreetMap - CC-BY-SA 2.0 vector map data collected by GPS
TIGER Map Service Creates public domain maps (in GIF format) from U.S. Census Bureau data.
U.S. National Atlas Creates public domain maps (in
SDTS, E00, Shape and
TIFF formats) from U.S. Department of the Interior data.
planiglobe online map creation Generates maps from public domain data. Postscript and Adobe Illustrator versions can be downloaded. Use the {{
Planiglobe}} license on Commons (17 February 2014 : Planiglobe does not appear to offer this service any more).
OpenGeoDB - Maps and Data of all cities in Germany (Austria and Switzerland in progress) - according to
de:Benutzer:Akl (one of OpenGeoDB webmasters) all data and maps may be used under the
GFDL (please backlink to
http://opengeodb.de).
Libre Map Project - United States maps and GIS data released under the Creative Commons BY-SA license. Data includes many USGS DRG maps, TIGER/Map data, and boundary maps. (Also available at
Internet Archive USGS Maps)
DEMIS World Map Server generates maps using public domain data with no usage restrictions
USGS Viewer (
The National Map). Several views -- topo, images, hydrological. Print to PNG. Mark up with overlays, save and reload KML data. Some bugs, but usable. All US Public domain.
History Maps
Talessman's Atlas of World History, an online atlas created by amateur historian Thomas Lessman. Contains dozens of world history maps free for online viewing.
WorldHistoryMaps.com, provides world history maps for every year from 500 BC to today.