Map making in new worlds

We are pleased to announce the launch of Google Map Maker, mapmaker.google.com, for 43 new countries and territories, including Argentina, Costa Rica, and Fiji. Map Maker now allows people to create complete maps for 164 countries across the world. As we expand the launch of Map Maker to more countries, we never forget that for any user it's all about the world they live in. Map Maker is all about making your local data rich, complete and vibrant. Just take a look at how our users transformed the map of Islamabad, Pakistan in this time lapse video.

We recently took a walk down the memory lane, looking at all the maps users have contributed; one road, one place, and one neighborhood at a time. But when looked at on the world canvas that we are all contributing to, the result is inspiring. Two of our engineers decided to share this excitement with you via this sketch which shows all the roads in Map Maker in one view. Notice that we have focused Map Maker on areas with the most pressing information needs, and this shows.

You can share this view with your friends or download it as a screensaver. As 2008 comes to an end, our dream is that with your help this time next year, this sketch will be too bright to use as a screen saver!

Posted by Lalitesh Katragadda, Software Engineer and Lior Ron, Product Manager