Wikiatlas

The '''Wikiatlas''' or '''Wikimedia Atlas of the World''' (or Commons Atlas)<ref name="HowW">
"1. Wikimedia Commons", HowWikipediaWorks.com, 2008, webpage:
[http://howwikipediaworks.com/ch16s01.html HowW-ch16s01].
</ref>
is a [[WP:Portal|wiki-portal]] on the [[Wikimedia Commons]] website, related to the [[English Wikipedia]] [[Portal:Atlas]]. It contains thousands of gallery pages and maps AbOUT various nations or regions of the world.<ref name=HowW/><ref name="TCa">
"MapHist: A place to show off your maps", Tony Campbell,
email in mailman.geo.uu.nl, February 2008, webpage:
[http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/pipermail/maphist/<!--
-->2008-February/011360.html pipermail-360]: mentions maps
are available in the Wikimedia Atlas of the World.
</ref><ref name="EMe">
"Unsuported Assertions: An Analysis of Criticism of
Wikipedia and Possible Solutions", Elijah Meeks, University
of California, Merced, USA, in "List of Abstracts",
34th Annual Meeting and Conference of Computer Applications
and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology",
April 18-21, 2006, webpage (PDF):
[http://www.caa2006.org/pdf/accepted-abstracts.pdf <!--
--> caa2006-PDF].
</ref><ref name="Matt">
"Maps of Switzerland" (websites), MattNetwork.com,
2009, web:
[http://www.mattfind.com/Maps_of_Switzerland MF-Switz].
</ref>

As a collection of map image-galleries, the Wikiatlas links various sets of maps, such as:
: maps of [[Commons:Atlas of Europe|Europe]], maps of [[Commons:Atlas of Africa|Africa]], maps of [[Commons:Atlas of North America|North America]], maps of [[Commons:Atlas of Asia|Asia]], maps of [[Commons:Atlas of Oceania|Oceania]],
{| width=140px style="clear:right; float:right" <!--
--> class=infobox
!colspan=2 style=background:#F2D299 | Groups of Maps
|-
|width=2%|<!--indenter-->
|
[[Commons:Atlas of Europe|Atlas of Europe]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Africa|Atlas of Africa]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of England|Atlas of England]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Italy|Atlas of Italy]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Mexico|Atlas of Mexico]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Germany|Atlas of Germany]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Japan|Atlas of Japan]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of the United States|Atlas of the U.S.]]<br>
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Texas|Atlas of Texas]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of California|Atlas of California]]
<br>[[Commons:Atlas of Florida|Atlas of Florida]]
|}
: maps of the [[Commons:Atlas of the United States|U.S.A.]], of [[Commons:Atlas of Italy|Italy]], of [[Commons:Atlas of Germany|Germany]], of [[Commons:Atlas of China|China]], of [[Commons:Atlas of Taiwan|Taiwan]],<br>plus [[Commons:Atlas of Texas|maps of Texas]], or [[Commons:Atlas of California|maps of California]], and [[Commons:Atlas of Florida|maps of Florida]], etc.

Unlike [[Wikibooks]] or [[Wikisource]], the Wikiatlas is not a separate [[wiki]] website, but rather, a large subset of the [[Wikimedia]] website.
There are many thousands of maps in the WikiAtlas.<!--
--
-- The coding below generates a set of floating-image tables,
-- with specific margins, to align apart from each other.
-- The images float to different lines for wider windows.
-- Margins are style="margin: top right bottom left".
-- Alignment is precise, as in Europe map: 7px 10px 2px 9px.
-->
{| style="float:right; margin-left:0.5em; margin-right:0.1em"
|[[Image:Unitedstatesmap.png|190px|thumb|USA (or see: [[:Image:US_map_-_geographic.png|U.S. cities map]])]]
|}
{|<!--AFRICA--> style="float:right; margin:0 40px 0 0;"
|[[Image:AfricaCIA-HiRes.jpg|100px|thumb|[[:Image:AfricaCIA-HiRes.jpg|Africa map]] ]]
|}
{|<!--EUROPE--> style="float:left; font-size:87%; <!--
--> border:1px solid #BBB; margin:7px 10px 2px 9px;"
|[[Image:Physical Map of Europe.jpg|145px]]<br>&nbsp;[[:Image:Physical_Map_of_Europe.jpg|Europe map]] in Wikiatlas
|}
{| align=left width=200px
|__TOC__<!--show Table of Contents (at LEFT) -->
|}
{|<!--ENGLAND/ITALY--> style="float:left;" <!--
--> style="font-size:87%; margin:7px 0 0 6px;" <!--
--> cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0
|&nbsp; <!--blank row to lower maps below.--><tr>
|&nbsp; <!--blank row-->
|-
|[[Image:England-878ad.jpg|90px|England map from Wikiatlas]]<br>&nbsp; England map
|&nbsp;&nbsp;<!--spacer-->
|[[Image:It-map.png|105px|Italy map from Wikiatlas]]<br>&nbsp; Italy map
|}
<br clear=both>
==Atlas&nbsp;pages&nbsp;are map groupings==
The Wikiatlas is organized around some simple principles. All maps are grouped, in the manner of a World atlas, into pages named with the title "Atlas of..." for each continent, such as:
{| style="margin-left:3.5em"
|
* [[Commons:Atlas of Europe|Atlas of Europe]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Asia|Atlas of Asia]]
|&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of North America|Atlas of North America]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of South America|Atlas of South America]]
|&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of Africa|Atlas of Africa]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Oceania|Atlas of Oceania]]
|}
Similar page titles "Atlas of..." cover each nation or region, such as:
{| style="margin-left:0.1em"
|
* [[Commons:Atlas of Argentina|Atlas of Argentina]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Austria|Atlas of Austria]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Australia|Atlas of Australia]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Bangladesh|Atlas of Bangledesh]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Belgium|Atlas of Belgium]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Brazil|Atlas of Brazil]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Canada|Atlas of Canada]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of China|Atlas of China]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Taiwan|Atlas of Taiwan]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Colombia|Atlas of Colombia]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Cuba|Atlas of Cuba]]
|&nbsp;&nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of Denmark|Atlas of Denmark]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Egypt|Atlas of Egypt]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of England|Atlas of England]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Ethiopeia|Atlas of Ethiopeia]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Fiji|Atlas of Fiji]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Finland|Atlas of Finland]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of France|Atlas of France]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Germany|Atlas of Germany]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Greece|Atlas of Greece]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of India|Atlas of India]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Ireland|Atlas of Ireland]]
|&nbsp;&nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of Israel|Atlas of Israel]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Italy|Atlas of Italy]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Japan|Atlas of Japan]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Kenya|Atlas of Kenya]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of South Korea|Atlas of S.Korea]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of New Zealand|Atlas of N.Zealand]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Norway|Atlas of Norway]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Pakistan|Atlas of Pakistan]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Peru|Atlas of Peru]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Portugal|Atlas of Portugal]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Russia|Atlas of Russia]]
|&nbsp;&nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of Spain|Atlas of Spain]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Sudan|Atlas of Sudan]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Sweden|Atlas of Sweden]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Switzerland|Atlas of Switzerland]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Turkey|Atlas of Turkey]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Ukraine|Atlas of Ukraine]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of UK|Atlas of UK]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of USA|Atlas of USA]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Vanuatu|Atlas of Vanuatu]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Venezuela|Atlas of Venezuela]]
* [[Commons:Atlas of Wales|Atlas of Wales]]
|}
Some of the [[U.S. state]]s also have Wikiatlas pages, such as:
{| style="margin-left:0.5em"
|
* [[Commons:Atlas of Alabama|Atlas of Alabama]]
|&nbsp; &nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of California|Atlas of California]]
|&nbsp; &nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of Florida|Atlas of Florida]]
|&nbsp; &nbsp;||<!--spacer-->
* [[Commons:Atlas of Texas|Atlas of Texas]]
|}

Similarly, hundreds of other Wikiatlas pages are named as "Atlas of..." for over 200 nations and over 94 other regions of the World.

==Wikiatlas page format==
Many pages in the Wikiatlas are arranged in a distinctive format: with maps displayed down the left-side of the page, and explanatory text presented to the right-hand side. The description for each nation, territory, or region is written, first, in the official language(s) of the area, followed by other languages, including English.

Because the Wikiatlas is a wiki effort, developed by the Wikimedia volunteers, the level of detail and coverage varies, from section to section, of the Wikiatlas. Some groups of maps are very extensive, while other maps are rudimentary, depending on the time spent by volunteer writers.

==History of Wikiatlas==
The Wikiatlas was designed, during extended discussions on the [[Wikimedia]] website, beginning in 2003.<ref name="MWAtlas">
"Wikiatlas", Wikimedia.org, July 2003, webpage:
[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/<!--
-->Wikiatlas Wikimedia-Meta-atlas].
</ref>
Originally, the concept was to have an "automatic" map-generator, based on giving coordinates.<ref name=MWAtlas/> However, use of maps beyond mere location, led to the current vast collections of maps also showing economic areas, precipitation, average-temperature, political regions, earthquake fault-lines, etc. To show a location was only one way to use maps.

Many thousands of maps were collected, over the years. However, by June 2005, the Wikiatlas subproject still lacked sufficient structure to be considered viable.<ref name="LAr">
"*Openstreetmap* Wikimania, August 4-8",
Lars Aronsson, Openstreetmap.org, June 25, 2005, webpage:
[http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk/<!--
-->2005-June/000761.html openstreetmap-mail-761].
</ref>
In April 2006, the Wikiatlas was mentioned in an archaeology
conference as a "nascent" project.<ref name=EMe/>
Finally, a coherent page-format was generalized during mid-2007, using page layouts stored in [[MediaWiki]] template files.<ref name="talk-WikiEarth">
"Talk:WikiEarth", e-Katalog.com.pl,
revision: 16:28, 24 August 2007, web:
[http://meta.wikimedia.e-katalog.com.pl/wiki/<!--
-->Talk:WikiEarth TalkWikiE-Aug7].
</ref> Hundreds of Wikimedia and Wikipedia editors worked on various aspects of the page descriptions in over 100 languages, including uploading and modifying the thousands of map images. Some of the maps were transferred from Wikipedia image pages.

==Wikimedia readership==
Although readership figures are not specifically available, of the complete grouping of all Wikiatlas pages, the general readership of the Wikimedia website has been based, nearly 50% (in early 2009), within the following: United States 24.5%, Germany 10.7%, India 5.7%, United Kingdom 4.0%, and Italy 3.5%.<ref name="Alex">
"Traffic Details from Alexa - wikimedia",
Alexa Internet, Inc., March 2009, web:
[http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/<!--
-->commons.wikimedia.org Alexa-wikimedia].
</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{primarysources|date=March 2009}}
<span style="font-size:87%"><!--beginsize - set font size-->
* "1. Wikimedia Commons", HowWikipediaWorks.com, 2008, webpage: [http://howwikipediaworks.com/ch16s01.html HowW-ch16s01].
</span><!--endsize font size-->

==External links==
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas Wikiatlas main page] on Wikimedia Commons.

[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Wiki communities]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]