# Official Maps of the World **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475 "2003-02-12T00:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dot\_Commie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@Dot\_Commie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dot_Commie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/1 "2003-02-12T00:25:37Z")
I was wondering, is there any way that I can get official maps of countries for free? Can I like contact tourist bureaus of countries, or am I just asking way too much? ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/2 "2003-02-12T00:28:37Z")
Im sure you could, like, contact them, but like i’m really not too sure if they’d, like, send you anything. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/3 "2003-02-12T00:39:49Z")
I’m sure tourist bureaux would send you a packet of information. You might also try a nearby embassy or consulate. Also government websites… what country/ies are you interested in? ---
**Author:** ![Dot\_Commie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@Dot\_Commie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dot_Commie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/4 "2003-02-12T00:49:03Z")
Well I am making this little book for my boyfriends birthday. It will include a lot of things he likes and whatnot, it is like an inspiration book for his music. ANYWAY, he loves to travel, one thing he wants to do is travel to every country before he dies. So I was going to include random snippits of maps in the book… what I really want them to be official and beautiful (b.c official maps of foreign countries are amazing.) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/5 "2003-02-12T00:52:58Z")
Maps are great, aren’t they? As I say, consulates and whatnot usually have a little standard information kit they send out to all askers. I don’t know when you want this thing done by, but you might want to get on the horn to some consulates and embassies and ask them what they have. And that sounds like a really sweet thing to do 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@dec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dec)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/6 "2003-02-12T01:12:46Z")
buy an Atlas and cut it up ---
**Author:** ![Dot\_Commie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@Dot\_Commie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dot_Commie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/7 "2003-02-12T04:17:42Z")
hey thanks for all the help! okay one last question… do you think i would just google “said country” consulate??? is there an official name or anything? (and about the atlas, the paper is thicker, the colors are different you know, just not “official” enough… im picky.) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/8 "2003-02-12T04:21:57Z")
Well, you can probably get some cool stuff from official outlets, but you can’t afford to be picky if you want it for free. Printing is not cheap; expect photocopies. ---
**Author:** ![Dandmb50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@Dandmb50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandmb50)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/9 "2003-02-12T04:28:16Z")
go to www.mapquest maps of evrything and it’s free… ---
**Author:** ![Dandmb50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@Dandmb50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandmb50)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/10 "2003-02-12T04:32:07Z")
sorry I didn’t give the full URL… it’s [www.mapquest.com](http://www.mapquest.com) and it’s free ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/11 "2003-02-12T18:45:48Z")
> [@](#): > > do you think i would just google “said country” consulate??? is there an official name or anything? You could try [Directory & Search Engine Of The World’s Embassies & Consulates](http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/directory.htm). I don’t know how thororughly they stay up to date, but the couple times I’ve used it the site has been accurate. Here is their page limited to [Embassies in Washington, D.C.](http://www.embassy.org/embassies/). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-maps-of-the-world/154475/12 "2003-02-12T18:46:49Z")
Ooops. The second site is not related to the first.