Help Page
Welcome to the Facts On File World Atlas Help Page.
Filled with the most up-to-date information available, World Atlas provides more than 1,100 clear, reproducible maps and a wealth of statistics and data on more than 280 nations, territories, regions, states, and provinces. These maps include everything from major cities to major rivers, geographical features, elevation information, and more. All borders are labeled with the names of neighboring nations, states, and provinces.
Please select the area in which you need help or further information:
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| Hardware & Software Requirements: |
To use this database you must have an Internet-accessible PC or Macintosh computer running an Internet browser. On Macintosh computers, we recommend using Safari 3.0 or higher; on PCs, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or Firefox 2.0 or higher.
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader:
Many files require the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader browser plug-in to read and print documents. If your browser doesn't already include the plug-in, you can download it for free.
To print within Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, click on the printer icon in the top left corner of the Acrobat® image. You may also select File and then Print at the top of your browser window.
Print, Copy, and Save:
All content can be printed, copied, and saved for personal use via your Internet browser's print, copy, and save commands. To view a database entry in a format that will fit neatly on a standard 81/2 by 11 sheet of paper, click the Print icon that appears in the upper right corner of World Atlas entries. To open a printable map, click the PDF link below the map thumbnail. Use the Adobe® Acrobat® toolbar to print or save the map.
| How to Use the Database: |
The World Atlas Home page will open automatically when you first enter the database.
From the Home page, you can access the content of World Atlas in four different ways:
1. Use the keyword Search box at the top left of the page to search the entire database for a word or phrase.
2. Click on an item in the Atlas Resources menu on the left side of the page.
3. Select a country, U.S. state, or Canadian province from the three pull-down menus at the top of the page.
4. Click on the map thumbnails or highlighted text links in the main part of the Home page.
Atlas Resources menu:
This is the main navigational tool of the database. Click Home at any time to return to the Home page. Click Countries, U.S. States, or Canadian Provinces to go to a clickable map of the world, the United States, or Canada. From these maps you can navigate to regional maps and then to the At-A-Glance page for a country, U.S. state, or Canadian province. Click on links under Regional Maps to view Geographic Regional Maps and Thematic Regional Maps for every world region. Use the Comparison Tools to compare statistics on countries or U.S. states. To return to these instructions, click Help at any time. The Web Links section contains a list of complementary sites compiled by Facts On File editors that will help you in your study of the world and its peoples.
The Search box and the Atlas Resources menu are present on every page of the website. No matter where you are in the database, you can start a new search by using the Search box or clicking on a link in the Atlas Resources menu.
Pull-down Menus:
You can also navigate through the website by selecting one of the following pull-down menus at the top of the page: Select a Country, Select a U.S. State, or Select a Canadian Province. Click on the name of a country, U.S. state, or Canadian province to view the At-A-Glance page for that place. The pull-down menus are also present on every page of the website.
In the upper right corner above the pull-down menus, the Available Databases link returns you to the main Facts On File menu, from which you can explore other online databases.
Main Part of the Home Page:
You can also navigate through the website by clicking on the linked map thumbnails or text links in the main part of the Home page. Click on map thumbnails to open maps of Countries, U.S. States, and Canadian Provinces; and Geographic or Thematic Regional Maps. Click on the text links under the Comparison Tools heading to compare statistical information on countries or U.S. states.
| Countries: |
Select a country from the pull-down menu at the top of the page, or by using the left menu or Home page links. Clicking on the country will open its At-A-Glance page. The Country Menu at the right of the page contains links to more information about the country:
At-A-Glance:
Offers a brief profile of the country, with map thumbnails and links.
Maps & Flags:
Includes political, outline, elevation, locator and world location maps, along with standard, outline, and printable images of the country's flag.
Image Gallery (selected countries):
Contains photographs taken within the country, often including views of cities, notable landmarks, street scenes, landscapes, and people.
Facts & Figures:
Provides a wide range of statistics and data about the country.
Geography:
Presents information about the country's physical features, weather and climate, and environment.
Government:
Describes and details the organization of the country's government.
History:
Furnishes an overview and chronology of the country's history.
Society:
Presents information about the country's economy, politics, and other societal aspects.
People & Culture:
Discusses the country's ethnic groups, languages, religions, and famous citizens.
Further Resources:
Offers a list of websites and a brief bibliography for each country.
Each section contains a linked Print icon to the right under the section title. Clicking this link allows the user to easily print the information on that page.
Click here to learn more about using the maps.
| U.S. States: |
Select a U.S. state from the pull-down menu at the top of the page, or by using the left menu or Home page links. Clicking on the state will open its At-A-Glance page. The State Menu at the right of the page contains links to more information about the state:
At-A-Glance:
Offers a brief profile of the state, with map and state symbol thumbnails and links.
Maps & Flags:
Includes political, outline, elevation, and locator maps, along with standard, outline, and printable images of the state's flag.
State Symbols:
Provides images of the state bird, state flower, and other state symbols.
Image Gallery:
Offers photographs taken within the state, often including views of cities, notable landmarks, street scenes, landscapes, and people.
Geography:
Describes the state's physical features, weather, climate, and environment.
Facts & Figures:
Provides a wide range of statistics and data about the state.
History:
Furnishes an overview and chronology of the country's history.
People & Society:
Discusses the state's culture, economy, government, and famous citizens.
Further Resources:
Includes a list of websites and a brief bibliography for each state.
Each section contains a linked Print icon to the right under the section title. Clicking this link allows the user to easily print the information on that page.
Click here to learn more about using the maps.
| Canadian Provinces: |
Select a Canadian province from the pull-down menu at the top of the page, or by using the left menu or Home page links. Clicking on the province will open its At-A-Glance page. The Province Menu at the right of the page contains links to more information about the province:
At-A-Glance:
Offers a brief profile of the province, with map thumbnails and links.
Maps & Flags:
Includes political, outline, elevation, and locator maps, along with standard and printable images of the province's flag.
Image Gallery (selected provinces):
Contains photographs taken within the province, often including views of cities, notable landmarks, street scenes, landscapes, and people.
Geography:
Presents a description of the province's physical features, weather and climate, and environment.
Facts & Figures:
Provides a wide range of statistics and data about the province
History:
Furnishes an overview and chronology of the province's history.
People & Society:
Describes or lists the province's culture, economy, government, tourist industry, and famous inhabitants.
Further Resources:
Includes a list of websites and a brief bibliography for each province.
Each section contains a linked Print icon to the right under the section title. Clicking this link allows the user to easily print the information on that page.
Click here to learn more about using the maps.
| Regional Maps: |
Geographic Regional Maps
From the Atlas Resources menu or from the Home page, click on the Geographic link under the Regional Maps heading to view thumbnails of political, outline, and, in some cases, elevation maps, for the world and nine world regions. Choose a region by using the scroll bar or by clicking on one of the links in the box at the top of the page. Click on the html or pdf link underneath each thumbnail to view or print a full-size version of a map.
Thematic Regional Maps
From the Atlas Resources menu or from the Home page, click on the Thematic link under the Regional Maps heading to view a colorful map of the world. Click on a region to find thumbnails of maps showing demographic, political, education, and energy statistics for six world regions. Click on the html or pdf link underneath each thumbnail to view or print a full-size version of a map.
| Comparison Tools: |
Compare: In three simple steps, the comparison tool allows you to view and compare statistical information for countries or U.S. states. A bar graph displays the information for each country or state. The easily readable graph makes differences or similarities between states and countries immediately apparent. Step One: Choose to compare countries or U.S. states. Step Two: Select a statistic to compare (e.g. population, foreign debt). Step Three: Select up to four countries or states. After completing these steps, click Compare Countries (States) to view the bar graph. Rank: The ranking tool allows you to view a table of countries or U.S. states listed in ascending order of rank for a chosen statistic. Step One: Choose to compare countries or U.S. states. Step Two: Select a statistic (e.g. literacy, infant mortality rate) to rank countries or U.S. states. After you select a statistic, the table will be displayed.
| Web Links: |
Click Web Links to view a list of geography, world history, and statistics websites compiled by Facts On File editors. Each listing includes a brief description of the site. Clicking on a link will open the page in a new window.
| Search: |
Type a word or phrase into the box at the top of the left menu and click Search to find all the entries that contain your search terms. Because the search returns only pages that include all of your search terms, there is no need to include "and" between terms. To restrict a search further, just include more terms.
Length:
Words used in a word or phrase search must be three or more characters long. Searches may be conducted with less than three characters, but the results will be inconclusive.Capitalization:
Searches are not case sensitive. For example, it does not matter if you enter hawaii or Hawaii or even hAwAiI; all will return the same results.Accent Marks and Diacriticals:
Many names, especially those from non-English languages, contain special symbols to clarify their pronunciation. To search for these names, simply type the name without the accent marks. For example, to search for Mazatlán, simply type Mazatlan in the search box.Phrase Searches:
To search for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in quotation marks. Without quotes, the search will return all pages that have all the words in your search, regardless of their location on the page or relation to one another. With quotes, the search will return only records that contain your search phrase exactly as you entered it.Limiting Results with "NOT" Searches:
Sometimes you may want to limit results even further. For instance, to retrieve entries on Netherlands, but not Netherlands Antilles, enter netherlands not antilles or netherlands -antilles into the search box. As you can see from the two examples, you may use either the word "not" or the minus sign to exclude a word from the search; however, the minus sign must be attached to the front of the word to be excluded, while "not" must be surrounded by spaces. Both approaches have the effect of excluding all entries which contain the name "Antilles.""OR" Searches:
Sometimes you may want to search on two different topics that do not appear together. In that case, enter both search terms, or sets of terms, separated by the word "or." For instance, the search hawaii or alaska will return any record that mentions either Hawaii or Alaska, including records which mention one, but not the other.Search Results:
The search will return a summary of all the countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and/or regions in which your search term appears. Click on one of these categories to see the place names of these countries, U.S. states, etc., along with a link to the section page or pages (e.g. Physical Features, History Overview), which contain the search term. The search term will be highlighted in red in these sections, with one exception: words or phrases appearing on maps will not be highlighted.Search Indexes:
Select this option from beneath the search box in the left menu to browse lists of physical features, biographies, national capitals, or cities.Physical Features:
To search by physical features, click on the arrow in the pull-down menu and select a feature. Click Select Physical Feature to view an alphabetical list of all physical features of that type (for example, click on River to view an alphabetical list of all the rivers in the database that have a physical features entry). Click on the name of a specific feature (e.g. the Limpopo River) to view a summary of all the countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and/or regions in which that feature appears. Click on one of these categories to see the names of these countries, U.S. states, etc., along with a link to the section page or pages (e.g. Map (PDF), Physical Features) containing the search term. The search term will be highlighted in red in these sections, with one exception: words or phrases appearing on maps will not be highlighted.Biographies:
If an asterisk appears next to the feature's name, then that feature appears only on a PDF map.
To browse biographies, click on a letter of the alphabet to return a list of all biographies in the database beginning with that letter.National Capitals:
Click on a letter of the alphabet to view a list of world capitals starting with that letter. Click List All National Capitals to view the full alphabetical list of world capitals.City Index:
To search for a city, click on a letter of the alphabet to view a list of cities starting with that letter, accompanied by the name of the country, U.S. state, and/or Canadian province in which the city is located. Clicking on the name of a city returns a summary of the pages in the database that refer to that city (e.g. 3 Countries Found). Click on one of these categories to see the names of these countries, states, or provinces along with a link to the section page or pages (e.g. Map (PDF), History Overview) containing the city's name. The city's name will be highlighted in red in these sections, with one exception: words or phrases appearing on maps will not be highlighted. Some cities only appear on PDF maps.
| Map Content: |
(To close the map window, click the X in the top right corner.)
Maps of world regions, countries, U.S. states, and Canadian provinces can be accessed through the left menu or through map thumbnails on the Home page. Maps of countries, U.S. states and Canadian provinces can also be accessed through the Maps & Flags link in the right menu on a country, U.S. state, or Canadian province's page, or through the map thumbnails on a country, state, or province's At-A-Glance page.
Political Map:
Major cities, physical features, and neighboring countries are all clearly listed on the political map.Outline Map:
This map contains official borders, unlabeled major physical features, and markers for capital cities (when applicable).Elevation Map:
This map contains official borders, markers for capital cities (when applicable), elevation information, major mountain ranges, and some physical features. The small red triangle, with its measurement in feet listed beside it, marks the highest elevation on the map.Locator Maps:
This map isolates the selected country, state, or province on a larger regional map, providing a wider perspective of that area's place in the region.World Location Maps:
This map isolates the selected country, state, or province on a map of the world, providing a wider perspective of that area's place in the world.Printable Maps:
To print any map in World Atlas, click on the pdf link below the map thumbnail and then use the print icon or print command under File in your browser.
PLEASE NOTE: Your computer will not be able to read the printable format without Adobe® Acrobat® Reader.
If you do not have this program, download it at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. Or click on the "Get Acrobat Reader" icon in the left menu.
To print within Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, choose File, and then Page Setup to set general printing options. The available options vary with different printers and drivers. See your printer driver documentation for details. Click the print button, or choose File, then Print. Specify the printer, page range, number of copies, and other options, and click OK.
(To exit the map window, click the X in the top right corner.)
| Citing World Atlas: |
For all maps and reference pages in World Atlas you will find a note at the bottom of the page regarding appropriate citation.