A national mapping agency (NMA) is an organisation, usually publicly owned, that produces topographic maps and geographic information of a country. Some national mapping agencies also deal with cadastral matters. According to 2007/2/EC European directive, national mapping agencies of European Union countries must have publicly available services for searching, viewing and downloading their spatial data. Maps produced by some of them are available under a free license that allows re-use, such as a Creative Commons license.
List For an overview of national mapping agencies, see the List of national mapping agencies. Many of these agencies developed themselves through time into an national mapping and cadastral authority (NMCA) and nowadays into an national mapping and geospatial information agency (NMGA).
History
Ordnance Survey The first national mapping agency was the Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom; its roots go back to 1747, when the compilation of a map of the Scottish Highlands was proposed. This survey at a scale of 1 inch to 1000 yards (1:36,000) was the starting point of the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain (1783–1853), and led to the creation of the Ordnance Survey itself; work was begun in earnest in 1790, when the Board of Ordnance began a national military survey at one-inch-to-the-mile (1:63,360 scale). During the next thirty years, roughly a third of England and Wales was mapped (see Principal Triangulation of Great Britain), as other military matters took precedence.
Discussion
Although virtually the entire terrestrial surface of Earth has been mapped at scale 1:1,000,000, medium and large-scale mapping has been accomplished intensively in some countries and much less in others. Nevertheless, national mapping programs listed below are only a partial selection. Several commercial vendors supply international topographic map series.
Australia The NMIG (National Mapping Information Group) of Geoscience Australia is the Australian Government's national mapping agency. It provides topographic maps and data to meet the needs of the sustainable development of the nation. The Office of Spatial Data Management provides an online free map service MapConnect. These topographic maps of scales 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 are available in printed form from the Sales Centre. 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps are produced in conjunction with the Department of Defence.
Austria Austrian Maps (German: Österreichische Karte (ÖK)) is the government agency producing maps of Austria, which are distributed by Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen (BEV) in Vienna. The maps are published at scales 1:25,000 1:50,000 1:200,000 and 1:500,000. Maps can also be viewed online.
Canada The Centre for Topographic Information produces topographic maps of Canada at scales of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000. The full map catalogue is known as the National Topographic System (NTS). A government proposal to discontinue publishing of all hardcopy or paper topographic maps in favor of digital-only mapping data was shelved in 2005 after intense public opposition. Some provinces, like Quebec, produce higher scale (1:20,000) maps of their territory
China The State Bureau of Surveying and Cartography compiles topographic maps at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scales. It is reported that these maps are accurate and attractively printed in seven colors, and that successive editions show progressive improvement in accuracy. These large-scale maps are the basis for maps at smaller scales. Maps at scales 1:4,000,000 or smaller are exported by Cartographic Publishing House, Beijing while larger-scale maps are restricted as state secrets, and prohibited from publishing by legislation, all except Hong Kong and Macau. China's topographic maps follow the international system of subdivision with 1:100,000 maps spanning 30 minutes longitude by 20 minutes latitude.
Colombia The Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi is the government entity responsible for producing and distributing topographic maps of Colombia in 1:500,000 and 1:100,000 scales. These and several other Geographic information services can be accessed using the Instituto Geográfico Agustin Codazzi website in Spanish.
Denmark The National Survey and Cadastre of Denmark is responsible for producing topographic and nautical geodata of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Finland The National Land Survey of Finland produces the Topographic Database (accuracy 1:5000-1:10 000) and publishes topographic maps of Finland at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. In addition topographics maps can be viewed by using a free map service MapSite.
France The Institut Géographique National (IGN) produces topographic maps of France at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. In addition, topographic maps are freely accessible online, through the Géoportail website.
Germany In principle, each federal state (Bundesland) is in charge of producing the official topographic maps. In fact, the maps between 1:5,000 and 1:100,000 are produced and published by the land surveying offices of each federal state, the maps between 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000 by a federal house – the Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie (BKG) in Frankfurt am Main.
Greece Topographic maps for general use are available at 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 from the Hellenic Military Geographical Service (HMGS). They use a national projection system called EGSA'87, which is a Transverse Mercatorial Projection mapping Greece in one zone. A few areas are also available at 1:25,000. Some private firms sell topographic maps of national parks based on HMGS topography.
Hong Kong The Department of Lands is the government agency responsible for surveying and publishing topographic maps of Hong Kong. Commonly used maps such as the HM20C series (1:20,000) are reviewed and updated every year or two. Very large scale (1:600 in Urban area and the 1:1,000 HM1C series for all of HK) topographic maps are also available to public for various uses.
Iceland The National Science Institute of Iceland is the government agency responsible for mapping, geodesy and producing topographic data for Iceland. They maintain the local ISN2016 EPSG:8088 and EPSG:8086 map projection for Iceland.
India The Survey of India is responsible for all topographic control, surveys and mapping of India.
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