National mapping agency
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.
According to 2007/2/EC European directive, national mapping agencies of European Union countries must have publicly available services for searching, viewing and downloading their spatial data. Maps produced by some of them are available under a free license that allows re-use, such as a Creative Commons license.
List
For an overview of national mapping agencies, see the List of national mapping agencies.Many of these agencies developed themselves through time into an national mapping and cadastral authority and nowadays into an national mapping and geospatial information agency.
History
Ordnance Survey
The first national mapping agency was the Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom; its roots go back to 1747, when the compilation of a map of the Scottish Highlands was proposed. This survey at a scale of 1 inch to 1000 yards was the starting point of the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain, 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. During the next thirty years, roughly a third of England and Wales was mapped, as other military matters took precedence.Discussion
Although virtually the entire terrestrial surface of Earth has been mapped at scale 1:1,000,000, medium and large-scale mapping has been accomplished intensively in some countries and much less in others. Nevertheless, national mapping programs listed below are only a partial selection. Several commercial vendors supply international topographic map series.Australia
The NMIG of Geoscience Australia is the Australian Government's national mapping agency. It provides topographic maps and data to meet the needs of the sustainable development of the nation. The Office of Spatial Data Management provides an online free map service MapConnect. These topographic maps of scales 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 are available in printed form from the Sales Centre. 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps are produced in conjunction with the Department of Defence.Austria
Austrian Maps is the government agency producing maps of Austria, which are distributed by Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen in Vienna. The maps are published at scales 1:25,000 1:50,000 1:200,000 and 1:500,000. Maps can also be viewed online.Canada
The Centre for Topographic Information produces topographic maps of Canada at scales of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000. The full map catalogue is known as the National Topographic System. A government proposal to discontinue publishing of all hardcopy or paper topographic maps in favor of digital-only mapping data was shelved in 2005 after intense public opposition.China
The State Bureau of Surveying and Cartography compiles topographic maps at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scales. It is reported that these maps are accurate and attractively printed in seven colors, and that successive editions show progressive improvement in accuracy.These large-scale maps are the basis for maps at smaller scales. Maps at scales 1:4,000,000 or smaller are exported by Cartographic Publishing House, Beijing while larger-scale maps are restricted as state secrets, and prohibited from publishing by legislation, all except Hong Kong and Macau. China's topographic maps follow the international system of subdivision with 1:100,000 maps spanning 30 minutes longitude by 20 minutes latitude.
Colombia
The Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi is the government entity responsible for producing and distributing topographic maps of Colombia in 1:500,000 and 1:100,000 scales. These and several other Geographic information services can be accessed using the Instituto Geográfico Agustin Codazzi website in Spanish.Denmark
The National Survey and Cadastre of Denmark is responsible for producing topographic and nautical geodata of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.Finland
The National Land Survey of Finland produces the Topographic Database and publishes topographic maps of Finland at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. In addition topographics maps can be viewed by using a free map service MapSite.France
The Institut Géographique National produces topographic maps of France at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. In addition, topographic maps are freely accessible online, through the Géoportail website.Germany
In principle, each federal state is in charge of producing the official topographic maps. In fact, the maps between 1:5,000 and 1:100,000 are produced and published by the land surveying offices of each federal state, the maps between 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000 by a federal house – the Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie in Frankfurt am Main.Greece
Topographic maps for general use are available at 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 from the Hellenic Military Geographical Service . They use a national projection system called EGSA'87, which is a Transverse Mercatorial Projection mapping Greece in one zone. A few areas are also available at 1:25,000. Some private firms sell topographic maps of national parks based on HMGS topography.Hong Kong
The Department of Lands is the government agency responsible for surveying and publishing topographic maps of Hong Kong. Commonly used maps such as the HM20C series are reviewed and updated every year or two. Very large scale topographic maps are also available to public for various uses.Iceland
The National Science Institute of Iceland is the government agency responsible for mapping, geodesy and producing topographic data for Iceland. They maintain the local ISN2016 EPSG:8088 and EPSG:8086 map projection for Iceland.India
The Survey of India is responsible for all topographic control, surveys and mapping of India.Israel
The Survey of Israel is responsible for the civilian mapping of Israel. Standard map scales are 1:50,000 and 1:100,000. The 1:50,000 map is available online.The Military Intelligence Directorate of the Israel Defense Forces has its own mapping unit, which is a sub-unit of Unit 9900.
Japan
The Geographical Survey Institute of Japan is responsible for base mapping of Japan. Standard map scales are 1:25,000, 1:50,000, 1:200,000 and 1:500,000.Nepal
From 1992 to 2000 a definitive series of large scale topographic maps were surveyed and published through a joint project by Government of Nepal Survey Department and Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs contracting through the FinnMap consulting firm. Japan International Cooperation Agency substituted for FinnMap in Lumbini Zone.Topographic sheets at 1:25,000 scale covering 7.5 minutes latitude and longitude map the densely populatedTerai and Middle Mountain regions. Less populated high mountain regions are on 15-minute sheets at 1:50,000. JPG scans can be downloaded. Currently, Survey Department is updating its topographical base map using ZY-3 imagery. The first update phase completed 208 sheets
Netherlands
The Land Registry Kadaster collects, processes and provides topographical information of the entire Dutch territory.The history of the Land Registry goes back to the year 1815, that year was commissioned to create a large map, known as Map of Krayenhoff. Around 1836 they began printing the topographic map on a scale of 1: 50,000, followed in 1865 by the topographic map on a scale of 1: 25,000. In 1951 began the start of production of the topographic map on a scale of 1: 10,000. From various reorganizations arose in 1932 the Topografische Dienst as national mapping agency of the Netherlands, since January 2004 housed within the Land Registry Kadaster.
New Zealand
Land Information New Zealand is the government agency responsible for providing up-to-date topographic mapping. LINZ topographic maps cover all of New Zealand, offshore islands, some Pacific Islands and the Ross Sea Region. The standard issue NZTopo map series was published September 2009 at 1:50,000, and 1:250,000. Vector data from the New Zealand Topographic Database is also available.Pakistan
The responsibility for topographic mapping and aerial photography lies with the Surveyor General of Pakistan . Established in 1947, the Survey of Pakistan is based in Rawalpindi with a number of regional offices distributed at urban centers throughout Pakistan. SGP is a civil organization which, for security reasons, is headed by a Surveyor General and works under the strict control of Army General Headquarters. Colonel C.A.K. Innes-Wilson, a Royal Engineers officer who joined the Survey of India which mapped the subcontinent, was the first Surveyor General of Pakistan.All departments which require topographic maps make their request to SGP and many are permanently registered with it for mapping and aerial photographs procurement. The SOP performs these functions under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence. Organisationally, the SOP is overseen by the Surveyor General who is a direct military appointee and a senior uniformed officer. The SG reports directly to the Secretary of Defence. Under the SG are two Deputy SG's who manage the operational departments of the agency and a Senior Technical Advisor. These departments are divided into Regional Directorates for Topographic Mapping including the Northern region centred in Peshawar, Eastern region, Western region and finally, the Southern region in Karachi. Responsibility for fields surveys and the maintenance/update of topographic maps are sub-divided according to these geographic areas.