Products

Nationalatlas.gov™ contains a remarkable range of products and services to meet the diverse needs of people who are looking for maps and geographic information about America. Within this Web site, we offer the following products and services.

Map Maker

In the Map Maker, you can use more than 1,900 map layers to select, display, and print your own maps. You can locate any place in America and learn more about its features on your custom-made maps. Handy links take you outside the National Atlas for even more information. You can launch the Map Maker from here or start with the Map Maker's introductory help page.

Printable Maps

Do you just need a simple prepared map that you can print at home, at school, or in the office? Take a look at our ever-expanding list of page-size printable maps.

Wall Maps

The National Atlas prints authoritative and attractive wall maps covering diverse topics. These are suitable for use at home, in the office, or in the classroom.

Some of our wall maps may be available from map dealers in your area.

Dynamic Maps

Dynamic maps are innovative illustrations of geographic phenomena. We combine the science of mapping with today's multimedia to offer maps that are useful, understandable, and that stimulate interactivity.

Articles

Do you want to know the stories behind the maps and the geographic data? The National Atlas includes interesting and informative articles about Americans and their Nation. In addition, all the map layers in the Map Maker section are described on map layer information pages. Here is the index to the map layers.

Mapping Professionals

You've already invested in your own desktop mapping or GIS software. You're a skilled user of software that lets you analyze geospatial information and make your own maps. You need documented, accurate, reliable, and integrated data. Take a look at the GIS files offered in the National Atlas. They cover the Nation, you can download them today, and they're free! GIS users and Web programmers may also want to check out our online map services.

Raw Data

The raw data we use to generate maps can be downloaded for free. Vector files are available in Shapefile and SDTS-TVP formats. National Atlas geostatistical data are in DBF format. Our images are GeoTIFF files. We bundle and compress raw National Atlas data to facilitate delivery on the World Wide Web, so you'll need decompression software.

Raw Data Documentation

You can learn whether National Atlas raw data will suit your needs by perusing our raw data documentation. We release no raw data file without an accompanying raw data documentation file that complies with the Federal Geographic Data Committee Content Standard on Digital Geospatial Metadata. These documentation files are also bundled with the raw data files you download from nationalatlas.gov™.

Open Geospatial Consortium/Web Mapping Services

Would you like to embed the National Atlas in your own application? You can if your code takes advantage of the evolving Web Mapping Services specifications from the Open Geospatial Consortium.