# Why has Google Maps removed landmarks and towns from North Korea.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-google-maps-removed-landmarks-and-towns-from-north-korea/546509>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 13, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-google-maps-removed-landmarks-and-towns-from-north-korea/546509 "2010-07-13T07:44:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-google-maps-removed-landmarks-and-towns-from-north-korea/546509/1 "2010-07-13T07:44:25Z")

</div>

All the data still appears to be there, you can still zoom in to what I assume is the same level of detail you have always been able to see but there are no streets/landmarks/cities on the map anymore.

What would the reason be for doing this? I know North Korea are secretive and would understand them demanding that certain areas, or the whole country, be blurred out but simply removing the city names doesn’t seem to achieve anything. We still know where they are.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-google-maps-removed-landmarks-and-towns-from-north-korea/546509/2 "2010-07-13T08:17:32Z")

</div>

According to a [Google employee](http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/maps/thread?tid=428921feb25a5c58&hl=en)

> [@](#):
>
> We never launched coverage in some countries because we simply weren’t satisfied with the map data we had available. We’re constantly searching for the best map data we can find, and sometimes will delay launching coverage in a country if we think we can get more comprehensive data.

[Georgia](http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.716667,44.783333&spn=0.1,0.1&t=m&q=41.716667,44.783333(Tbilisi)) suffers the same problem.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-google-maps-removed-landmarks-and-towns-from-north-korea/546509/3 "2010-07-13T09:12:21Z")

</div>

That’s a pity: I’ve always longed to visit that magical land, and be able to come back and announce: \*\*\* “I have seen the future, and it works !”\*\*\*

**[Korea Konsult](http://www.koreakonsult.com/index_eng.html)**