China, the world’s largest country in terms of population and 3rd largest in terms of area, has completed a 1:50,000 topographic database for the entire country. Data layers include transportation features, topography, hydrology, boundaries and land use. Remote sensing images covering large and medium-sized images, provide resolution to 1 metre. Apparently, the State Bureau for Surveying and Mapping “will try its best to make the database available to all while taking security into consideration.” No word yet on accessing this information over the Internet.

Read the People’s Daily Online story.