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The National Map

As one of the cornerstones of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program, The National Map is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation. It has many uses ranging from recreation to scientific analysis to emergency response. 

The National Map logo

The National Map is a suite of products and services that provide access to base geospatial information to describe the landscape of the United States and its territories. The National Map embodies 11 primary products and services and numerous applications and ancillary services.

The National Map supports data download, digital and print versions of topographic maps, geospatial data services, and online viewing. Customers can use geospatial data and maps to enhance their recreational experience, make life-saving decisions, support scientific missions, and for countless other activities. Nationally consistent geospatial data from The National Map enable better policy and land management decisions and the effective enforcement of regulatory responsibilities. The National Map is easily accessible for display on the Web through such products as topographic maps and services and as downloadable data. The geographic information available from The National Map includes boundaries, elevation, geographic names, hydrography, land cover, orthoimagery, structures, and transportation. 

The majority of The National Map effort is devoted to acquiring and integrating medium-scale (nominally 1:24,000 scale) geospatial data for the eight base layers from a variety of sources and providing access to the resulting seamless coverages of geospatial data. The National Map also serves as the source of base mapping information for derived cartographic products, including 1:24,000 scale US Topo maps and georeferenced digital files of scanned historic topographic maps. Data sets and products from The National Map are intended for use by government, industry, and academia—focusing on geographic information system (GIS) users—as well as the public, especially in support of recreation activities. Other types of georeferenced or mapping information can be added within The National Map Viewer or brought in with The National Map data into a GIS to create specific types of maps or map views and (or) to perform modeling or analyses.