Where to buy a good quality world map?

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Haertig

Haertig

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I am looking for a world wall map. About 2' x 3'. Something that is not too "busy". Country outlines and maybe capital cities would be fine enough detail for me. The capital cities would be optional. Subtle indication of mountain ranges would be good, but not to the point of being topo-like. Again, that's what I call "busy". Many of the maps I have found have major roads drawn on them. This is useless to me, and just serves to confuse country boundaries. Using a different color for adjacent countries would be nice to help delineate them, but preferable are subtle color changes, not a bright purple country next to a bright yellow country. I realize that I may have to settle for gaudy bright colors, as that seems somewhat typical. My choice would be "professional looking" rather than "clown looking".

Does anyone know where I could buy something like this? What kind of local store would carry high quality maps? I don't mind buying online, if it's from a reputable place that is known for good quality. Buying maps or globes from a place like Amazon is too hit or miss. Most things of this type appear to be cheap clown quality at Amazon. But you don't realize that until you have it delivered and see it in your hands.

Same questions for a globe. I would like a globe of probably 15" or so. That's the globe diameter, not the "total height". "15 inches tall" often means 7 inches of stand with a globe 8 inches in diameter. Too small.

What I would really like is a local store - in the Denver area - that sells this type of stuff so I could go view it in person before purchase. Would some kind of "school equipment" store be what I should be looking for? Maybe a high-end bookstore?

Is there anyone else here who likes maps and stuff and knows any good retailers?
 
After much searching (and failing) prior to starting this thread, I think I may have stumbled onto what I'm looking for shortly after posting.

This one is very close to what I'm looking for (the best I've found so far):

https://www.worldmapsonline.com/world-political-wall-map/
p.s. - It's up to date as well. First one I've seen that has Eswatini replacing Swaziland.
 
We used to have a local Map Store. They had all kinds of stuff, all the way down to very local topo maps. But they closed a few years back. Internet seems to be the best bet now days. Some places sell PDF's that you can print your own. But without a large printer or plotter that don't work so well.
 
Camalot said:
National Geographic.com has a lot of excellent maps.
Click to expand...
Slightly off topic

The wife's aunt was headed to assisted care. They had 40 years of National Geographic magazine. The ones with maps had red lettering on the spine. I retrieved all of the maps and now have them sorted and filed.

20220529_120117.jpg



Ben
 
Regarding a globe, I was just looking at ours. Bought it at a school supply store over 15 years ago, so it is not up-to-date. But that's the place I would recommend in looking for a globe, if you have one in your area (ours have all closed down).

@Neb, love those old National Geographics! The last time I went cleaning through some old magazines, I found some NGs that must have come from my parents' place, because they were older than me. The maps and poster-style pull-outs are real gems!
 
In my quest to find good quality wall maps, I turned up some excellent downloadable maps (PDF format and JPG format - PDF enlarge better on your computer screen). They are created by our own CIA!

The Physical World Map:
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/static/2ea375ba452947cfe77e5a3d6cd7c1c5/world_phy.pdf
The Political World Map:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/CIA_WorldFactBook-Political_world.pdf
Other CIA maps (and all kinds of other detailed world information too - see "Countries" and "References" links at the top right or webpage):
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/maps/
Below is the 2021 CIA Political World Map, but it is quite large compared to the others. It appears that they pulled back this version and reverted to the 2019 version (the one linked above).

The 2021 version:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...6075909!CIA_WorldFactBook-Political_world.pdf
I also found a good PDF viewer for Linux that works well with single page large maps. It is call "MuPDF". The screen is barren except for the displayed PDF (which is good for maps). So you have to read the manpage to learn how to use it - it's not 100% obvious. Run "man mupdf" after installation. Quick instructions: "W" to fit it to your screen (must be a capital "W"). + and - to zoom. drag-n-drop with your mouse to pan. It takes a few seconds to zoom on my older, slower, lower memory computer - so be patient if you're not running on a hot rod computer.
 
Haertig said:
I am looking for a world wall map. About 2' x 3'. Something that is not too "busy". Country outlines and maybe capital cities would be fine enough detail for me. The capital cities would be optional. Subtle indication of mountain ranges would be good, but not to the point of being topo-like. Again, that's what I call "busy". Many of the maps I have found have major roads drawn on them. This is useless to me, and just serves to confuse country boundaries. Using a different color for adjacent countries would be nice to help delineate them, but preferable are subtle color changes, not a bright purple country next to a bright yellow country. I realize that I may have to settle for gaudy bright colors, as that seems somewhat typical. My choice would be "professional looking" rather than "clown looking".

Does anyone know where I could buy something like this? What kind of local store would carry high quality maps? I don't mind buying online, if it's from a reputable place that is known for good quality. Buying maps or globes from a place like Amazon is too hit or miss. Most things of this type appear to be cheap clown quality at Amazon. But you don't realize that until you have it delivered and see it in your hands.

Same questions for a globe. I would like a globe of probably 15" or so. That's the globe diameter, not the "total height". "15 inches tall" often means 7 inches of stand with a globe 8 inches in diameter. Too small.

What I would really like is a local store - in the Denver area - that sells this type of stuff so I could go view it in person before purchase. Would some kind of "school equipment" store be what I should be looking for? Maybe a high-end bookstore?

Is there anyone else here who likes maps and stuff and knows any good retailers?
Click to expand...
I was going to suggest a book store ~
 
The map below I really like. I prefer a world map centered on the Pacific rather than on Europe/Africa. There is much more of interest in the Pacific than in the Atlantic, so why not center on the Pacific? There are two versions of the one below: one with labels, and one without (but it still has country border outlines). And it's very pretty to my eye - I like the satellite image format.

https://www.worldmapsonline.com/world-pacific-rim-satellite-image-map-enhanced/
 
Haertig said:
Local bookstores are getting few and far between. But I plan to check to see if "The Tattered Cover" - a big local bookstore here - has maps.
Click to expand...
There used to be a good map store on 8th and Lincoln in Denver, across the street from the French restaurant, Le Central. I had some maps from the store. I think it is closed now, as is Le Central.
Have you been to The Tattered Cover lately? It has been about a year since I last went to one and I didn't stay long, just in and out. Not like the days when I spent an hour or more there. There is a newer owner of the business, three owners actually, and the new owners run the place a little differently. I don't think they carry as much stock, but they do have used books for sale, as well as new books. You can also get books printed and bound there, by downloading pdf's, etc.
 
Weedygarden said:
Have you been to The Tattered Cover lately?
Click to expand...
I have not been there for many years. Or to any local bookstore for that matter. We still have a Barnes & Noble about 15 minutes from my house. But that store is included in my "not visited for years" group. These days I either buy online or borrow from my library. I need to make an effort to get out to the local bookstore, although calling B&N a "local bookstore" is kind of a stretch. They're a mega-corporation. Tattered Cover is a longish drive for me. Half an hour to 45 minutes.
 
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