Since the beginning of time (sort of) man has sought to make sense of his (and her) own surroundings. Today, maps help us make some sense of our surroundings. Apart from being very useful, maps can also look good (perhaps only to me… I might be a weirdo that way). Anyway, for all you map lovers, school children charged with some tedious school project, and the occasional conspiracy theory person who wants to prove through old maps that Atlanteans had nuclear facilities in Antarctica in 20,000 B.C., I’m going to put up any public domain maps i come across. Since they are public domain, you can do whatever you want with them (short of actually choking somebody by sticking a printed public domain map down their throat).
>Old Maps
>New Maps
>Sci-Fi/Fantasy Maps
Also, below are several links of already existing map databases. Sometimes there is no point in reinventing the wheel. Remember that these links may provide maps which are not in the public domain. It’s your duty to check whether any maps from the links given below are free to use or not.
General Map Catalogues
> Odden’s Bookmarks – a huge map index providing links to thousands of external map collections covering all sorts of subjects.
> Public Domain Sherpa – for all things public domain. This particular page includes links to other collections of both contemporary and old maps. Most links are U.S.A. related.
> Univesity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire – A considerable group of links leading to many public domain maps. Mostly U.S. related maps – both modern and historic, general and thematic.
> Wikimedia Commons – A large collection of maps categorized both by date and by goegraphical/political area. Free maps being from the 12th Century A.D.