National mapping agency

The original draftsman's drawings for the area around St. Columb Major, Cornwall, made in 1810.

A national mapping agency is an organisation, usually publicly owned, that produces topographic maps and geographic information of a country. Some national mapping agencies also deal with cadastral matters.

History

Ordnance Survey

The first national mapping agency was the Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom;^[1][2] its roots go back to 1747, when the compilation of a map of the Scottish Highlands was proposed.^[3][4] This survey at a scale of 1 inch to 1000 yards (1:36,000)^[5] was the starting point of the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain (1783–1853), and led to the creation of the Ordnance Survey itself; work was begun in earnest in 1790, when the Board of Ordnance began a national military survey at one-inch-to-the-mile (1:63,360 scale).^[6] During the next thirty years, roughly a third of England and Wales was mapped (see Principal Triangulation of Great Britain), as other military matters took precedence.^[7]

List of national mapping agencies

Country or territory	National mapping agency[8]	Web site	Online map viewer	Notes
Afghanistan	Afghan Geodesy & Cartography Head Office اداره عمومی جیودیزی وکارتوگرافی دجیودیزی او کارتوگرافی لوی اداره	agcho.gov.af
Albania	Autoriteti Shtetëror i Informacionit Gjeohapësinor (ASIG) State Authority for Geospatial Information	asig.gov.al	ASIG Geoportal
Algeria	المعهد الوطني للخرائط و الكشف عن بعد Institut National de Cartographie et Télédétection National Institute of Cartography and Teledetection	inct.mdn.dz
Argentina	Instituto Geográfico Nacional	ign.gob.ar
Armenia	Կառավարությանն առընթեր անշարժ գույքի կադաստրի պետական կոմիտե	cadastre.am
Australia	Geoscience Australia	ga.gov.au	Interactive Maps
Austria	Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen (BEV)	bev.gv.at	Austrian Map online
Azerbaijan	Əmlak Məsələləri Dövlət Komitəsi State Committee on Property Issues	emdk.gov.az
Bahamas	Bahamas National Geographic Information Systems (BNGIS) Centre	bahamas.gov.bs
Bahrain	الجهاز المركزي للمعلومات Central Informatics Organization	cio.gov.bh
Bangladesh	বাংলাদেশ জরিপ অধিদপ্তর Survey of Bangladesh	sob.gov.bd
Barbados	Lands and Surveys Department	gov.bb
Belarus	Государственный комитет по имуществу Республики Беларусь	gki.gov.by
Belgium	Nationaal Geografisch Instituut (NGI) Institut Géographique National (IGN)	ngi.be ign.be	Topomap Viewer
Belize	Lands and Surveys Department	mnra.gov.bz
Bolivia	Instituto Geográfico Militar	igmbolivia.gob.bo	Geoportal
Brazil	Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE)	ibge.gov.br
Botswana	Department of Surveys and Mapping	mlh.gov.bw
Bulgaria	Агенция по геодезия, картография и кадастър (АГКК) Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency	cadastre.bg
Cambodia	General Department of Cadastre and Geography
Canada	Natural Resources Canada - Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation[9]	nrcan.gc.ca	Toporama
Chile	Instituto Geográfico Militar	igm.cl
China	国家测绘地理信息局 National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation	nasg.gov.cn
Colombia	Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC)	igac.gov.co	Geoportal
Costa Rica	Instituto Geográfico Nacional	registronacional.go.cr
Croatia	Državna geodetska uprava (DGU)	dgu.hr	Geoportal DGU
Cuba	Instituto de Geografía Tropical	geotech.cu
Cyprus	Tmima Ktimatologiou Kai Chorometrias Department of Lands and Surveys	moi.gov.cy
Czech Republic	Český úřad zeměměřický a katastrální (ČÚZK) Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre	cuzk.cz	Geoprohlížeč
Denmark	Geodatastyrelsen Danish Geodata Agency	gst.dk		including Faroe Islands and Greenland
Dominican Republic	Instituto Cartográfico Militar (ICM)	icm.mil.do
Ecuador	Instituto Geográfico Militar (IGM)	igm.gob.ec	Geoportal IGM
Egypt	Egyptian general Survey Authority (ESA)	esa.gov.eg
El Salvador	Instituto Geográfico y del Catastro Nacional (IGCN)	cnr.gob.sv	Visualizador Geográfico
Estonia	Maa-amet Estonian Land Board	maaamet.ee
Ethiopia	የኢትዮጵያ ካርታ ሥራ ኤጀንሲ Ethiopian Mapping Agency	ema.gov.et
Fiji	Mapping and Land Information	lands.gov.fj
Finland	Maanmittauslaitos (MML) Lantmäteriverket (LMV) National Land Survey of Finland (NLS)	maanmittauslaitos.fi	MapSite
France	Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière (IGN) National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN)	ign.fr	Géoportail tablet version mobile version
Germany	Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie (BKG) Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy	bkg.bund.de	Geoportal.de	excluding 1:5000 - 1:100 000
Ghana	Lands Commission	ghanalap.gov.gh
Great Britain	Ordnance Survey (OS)	ordnancesurvey.co.uk	OS Maps online	excluding Northern Ireland
Greece	Γεωγραφική Υπηρεσία Στρατού (ΓΥΣ) Hellenic Military Geographical Service (HMGS)	gys.gr
Guatemala	Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN)	ign.gob.gt
Guyana	Guyana Lands and Survey Commission	lands.gov.gy
Hong Kong	地政总署测绘处 Survey and Mapping Office (SMO)	landsd.gov.hk	GeoInfo Map
Honduras	Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía (DGCG)	dgcg.ip.gob.hn	Visor de Mapas
Hungary	Földmérési és Távérzékelési Intézet (fömi) Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing Institut für Geodäsie, Kartographie und Fernerkundung Institut de Géodésie, Cartographie et Télédétection	fomi.hu
Iceland	Landmælingar Íslands (LMÍ) National Landsurvey of Iceland (NLIS)	lmi.is	Map viewer
India	भारतीय सर्वेक्षण विभाग Survey of India	surveyofindia.gov.in
Indonesia	Badan Informasi Geospasial	big.go.id	Ina-Geoportal
Iran	سازمان نقشه برداری کشور National Cartographic Center	ncc.org.ir
Ireland	Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi )	osi.ie	GeoHive
Israel	המרכז למיפוי ישראל Survey Of Israel	mapi.gov.il	govMap
Italy	Istituto Geografico Militare	igmi.org
Jamaica	National Spatial Data Management Division (NSDMD)	mwh.gov.jm
Japan	国土地理院 Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI)	gsi.go.jp
Jordan	للمركـز الجغـرافي الملكـي الأردني Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre (RJGC)	rjgc.gov.jo
Kenya	Survey of Kenya
Latvia	Latvijas Geotelpiskas Informacijas Agentura (LGIA) Latvian Geospatial Information Agency (LGIA)	lgia.gov.lv
Lebanon	مديرية الشؤون الجفرافية Direction des affaires géographiques Directorate of Geographic Affairs	lebarmy.gov.lb
Lithuania	Nacionalinės žemės tarnybos (NŽT) National Land Service	nzt.lt
Luxembourg	Administration du Cadastre et de la Topographie	etat.lu
Macedonia	Агенција за катастар на недвижности (AKH) Agjencia e kadastrës së pasurisë së patundshme (AKPP) Agency for Real Estate Cadastre (AREC)	katastar.gov.mk
Madagascar	Institut Géographique et Hydrographique National	ftm.mg
Malaysia	Rasmi Jabatan Ukur dan Pemetaan Malaysia (JUPEM) Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia	jupem.gov.my
Mali	Institut Géographique du Mali (IGM)	igm-mali.ml
Malta	Planning Authority	pa.org.mt
Mexico	Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI)	inegi.org.mx	Mapa digital de México
Morocco	Agence Nationale de la Conservation Foncière du Cadastre et de la Cartographie (ANCFCC)	ancfcc.gov.ma
Mozambique	Centro Nacional de Cartografia e Teledetecção (CENACARTA)
Nepal	नापी विभाग Survey Department	dos.gov.np
Netherlands	Kadaster	kadaster.nl	PDOK	excluding Caribbean Netherlands
New Zealand	Land Information New Zealand (LINZ)	linz.govt.nz
Nicaragua	Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER)	ineter.gob.ni
Nigeria	Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF)	osgof.gov.ng
Northern Ireland	Land and Property Services (LPS)	lpsni.gov.uk		formerly Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland
Norway	Statens Kartverk Norwegian Mapping Authority	kartverket.no	Norgeskart
Oman	The National Survey Authority (Oman)	nsaom.org.om
Pakistan	Survey of Pakistan	surveyofpakistan.gov.pk
Panama	Instituto Geográfico Nacional "Tommy Guardia"	ignpanama.anati.gob.pa
Paraguay	Dirección del Servicio Geográfico Militar (DISERGEMIL)
Peru	Instituto Geográfico Nacional	ign.gob.pe
Philippines	National Mapping and Resource Information Authority	namria.gov.ph	Philippine geoportal
Poland	Główny Urząd Geodezji i Kartografii Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGIK)	gugik.edu.pl	Geoportal
Portugal	Instituto Geográfico Português	igeo.pt
Puerto Rico	Sistemas de Información Geográfica (GIS)	pr.gov
Qatar	Qatari Center for Geographic Information Systems (QCGIS)	gisqatar.org.qa
Republic of Korea	National Geographic Information Institute	ngii.go.kr
Romania	Agentia Nationala de Cadastru si Publicitate Imobiliara	ancpi.ro
Russia	Federal State Service for Registration, Inventory and Mapping (Rosreestr)	rosreestr.ru	Rosreestr Interactive Map
Saudi Arabia	General Commission for Survey (Saudi Arabia)	gcs.gov.sa
Senegal	Direction des Travaux Géographiques et Cartographiques	au-senegal.com
Serbia	Republički geodetski zavod (RGZ) Republic Geodetic Authority	rgz.gov.rs	Geoportal geoSrbija
Singapore	Singapore Land Authority	sla.gov.sg
Slovakia	Úrad geodézie, kartografie a katastra	skgeodesy.sk	Mapový Klient ZBGIS
Slovenia	Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia	gu.gov.si	Map viewer
South Africa	Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information	ngi.gov.za
Spain	Instituto Geográfico Nacional	ign.es	Iberpix
Sri Lanka	Department of Survey	survey.gov.lk
Sweden	Lantmäteriet	lantmateriet.se	Kartsök och ortnamn
Switzerland	Swisstopo	swisstopo.admin.ch	Maps of Switzerland
Taiwan	中華民國內政部國土測繪中心 National Land Surveying and Mapping Center (NLSC)	nlsc.gov.tw
Thailand	Royal Thai Survey Department	rtsd.mi.th
Trinidad and Tobago	Survey and Mapping Division	agriculture.gov.tt
Tunisia	Office de la Topographie et du Cadastre (OTC)
Turkey	General Command of Mapping	hgk.msb.gov.tr
United States	United States Geological Survey	usgs.gov	National Map
Ukraine	Derzhavna sluzhba Ukrayiny z pytan' heodeziyi, kartohrafiyi ta kadastru (Derzhheokadastr)	land.gov.ua	Public cadastral map of Ukraine
Uruguay	Servicio Geografico Militar	sgm.gub.uy
Venezuela	Instituto Geográfico de Venezuela Simón Bolívar (IGVSB)	igvsb.gob.ve
Vietnam	Cục Đo đạc và Bản đồ Việt Nam Department of Survey and Mapping	dosm.gov.vn
Yemen	Survey Authority	survey-authority.gov.ye

See also

• Surveying
• Cartography

References

1. "Ordnance Survey forms OS International to offer national mapping assistance internationally".
2. Nina Morgan. "Ordnance Survey maps that changed the world" (PDF).
3. By Lieutenant-Colonel David Watson to facilitate the subjugation of the clans following the Jacobite rising of 1745
4. Porter, Whitworth (1889). "History of the Corps of Royal Engineers". I. London: Longmans, Green, and Co: 167–68. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
5. Hindle, Paul (1998). Maps for Historians. Phillimore & Co. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-85033-934-0.
6. Hindle, Paul (1998). Maps for Historians. Phillimore & Co. p. 117. ISBN 0-85033-934-0.
7. Seymour, W.A., ed. (1980). A History of the Ordnance Survey. Folkestone: Wm Dawson & Sons. p. 71
8. Names in the languages listed on the agency's website
9. "Natural Resources Canada"

External links

• United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM)-National Mapping Agencies