August 22, 2011
Illustration
A graphic designer's friend: the CIA
If you're searching for current imagery and information about the countries (and entities) of the world, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) publishes an excellent, up-to-date resource titled The World Factbook — in print and online.
In addition to photographs, maps, flags, and so on of all the current entities (267 at this writing) it includes a written snapshot on each country's history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, and military.
More good news: The World Factbook is in the public domain. That means much of it can be used without permission of the CIA — but be sure to read the copyright pages. (You cannot, for example, use the CIA seal.)
A map of the Arctic (1.6MB PDF)...
An example of some entity-specific photographs — in this case, from France...
Read this copyright information before using anything...
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I'm familiar with this, only wonder about how up-to-date the facts are. Random clicks on various (country) facts when drilling down shows dates sometimes 2 or more years old. Could there be something available online that is more current...and FREE?
Still, it's a great resource for general information.
Good post Chuck!
Tom
Posted by: Tom | September 28, 2011 3:18 PM