World Map

World map with countries and country names

The map opens zoomed out on the entire global map, with country borders drawn in. It works as a world map with country name labels: every country large enough to fit a label shows its name. Zoom in and the labels change with the scale: first the larger cities, then states and provinces, then towns and streets. Smaller countries such as Luxembourg, Singapore or the Caribbean islands get their label after a zoom step or two. To go straight to a country, type its name in the search box.

Country borders and names come from OpenStreetMap, whose volunteers draw borders as they are controlled on the ground. Where a border is disputed, the map may show a dashed line, and the names are in English or the local language depending on the place.

How many countries are on the world map?

There are 195 world map countries in the usual count: the 193 member states of theUnited Nationsplus its two observer states, the Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine. By continent:

Russia and Turkey span Europe and Asia; here Russia is counted in Europe and Turkey in Asia, as in most lists. North America includes Central America and the Caribbean. Antarctica has no countries.

Why the map of the world makes Greenland look huge

Every flat map of world has to stretch the round Earth somewhere. This one, like Google Maps and most web maps, uses the Web Mercator projection, which keeps shapes right at any one spot but makes land look bigger the farther it is from the equator. On screen Greenland looks about as big as Africa; in reality Africa, at about 30 million km², is roughly 14 times larger than Greenland’s 2.2 million km². Antarctica is left off the bottom because Mercator stretches the poles to infinity. To compare real sizes, use theradius map: a 1,000 km circle drawn over Norway looks far wider than the same circle over Kenya.

Three map styles, one click apart

• Standard — OpenStreetMap rendered through CARTO’s Voyager style. Clean labels, full road network, easy on the eye for navigation tasks.
• Satellite — high-resolution aerial imagery from Esri’s World Imagery service. Best for seeing what a place actually looks like, not just how it’s named.
• Dark — CARTO’s dark basemap. The same style used on the homepage. Good for low-light viewing or when you want a less visually noisy map.

What this tool is for

This is the freeform “just give me a map I can poke around” tool. Unlike the other map-based pages on the site, it doesn’t do any one specific task — no routing, no street-level photography, no distance measurement. It’s the map you open when you want to see where something is, read a coordinate off it, or just explore. For task-specific work, the other tools are usually a better fit: routing goes through Driving Directions, street-level views through Street View, and distance measurement through the Distance Calculator.

Where the map data comes from

Cartographic tiles come from OpenStreetMap (an open, community-edited map of the world) rendered through CARTO. Satellite tiles come from Esri’s World Imagery service. Place-name search uses the OpenStreetMap Nominatim geocoder. None of these require an account or an API key for the modest traffic this site sends them. Their individual privacy policies are listed on the Privacy Policy page.

Earth map in satellite view

Switch to the Satellite style for a free earth map made of aerial photos: a satellite map of the whole planet that you can zoom down to single buildings, including an aerial view of my location with the My location button. The imagery is Esri World Imagery, not Google’s, but it covers the same places for free and needs no Google Earth download.

For a closer look at one address, such as a satellite view of my house, theGoogle Maps satellite viewtool does more: it opens on imagery, overlays place names and roads on the photo, and tells you when the photo under your screen was taken and how sharp it is. To see a street from ground level, useStreet View.

Free online maps with directions and your live location

This is one of several free online maps on the site, all free interactive maps online with no signup or app. Type your address to find your house on the map, or tap My location to show your current location. For a position that keeps updating as you move, useLive Location. For free maps with a route, turn-by-turn steps and the travel time from your location, usedriving directions.

Can I download this interactive world map?

This interactive map runs in the browser and has no download button; it needs an internet connection to load each area as you zoom. For a free interactive world map download to use offline, the map data behind it is open: OpenStreetMap data is free to download and reuse under theOpen Database License, and offline map apps such as Organic Maps and OsmAnd use it. For a picture of the world map, take a screenshot and keep the credit “© OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO”.

How to download a map of your location for offline use

1. Google Maps app (Android and iPhone): tap your profile picture → Offline maps → Select your own map, drag the box over your town or region, then tap Download. Directions and search keep working there without signal.
2. Organic Maps or OsmAnd (free, OpenStreetMap data): open the app, find your area, and accept the prompt to download that country or region. Whole countries download, not only a box.
3. A picture of one spot: tap My location on the map above, zoom to the area you need, and take a screenshot. It is an image, so it will not update or let you search.

Three things you can do here

• Find any location. Type a city, ZIP or postal code, or full street address and the map jumps to it.
• Read coordinates anywhere. Click on the map to drop a pin. The exact latitude and longitude appear below the map.
• Centre on your current location. Tap the “My location” button and the map jumps to your GPS position, if you allow the browser’s location prompt.

To read your own position with a full accuracy radius and a resolved street address rather than just a map pin, use the My Location tool. If you have a coordinate in DMS or UTM and need it in decimal degrees before searching, the Coordinates Converter handles the translation. To go from a place name to coordinates (or back), try the Address Finder.

Coordinate reference for major US cities

Handy starting points if you want to jump the map somewhere specific, or check a coordinate you have been given against a known city centre. Latitude first, longitude second, as always.

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