Atlas of the World: Sixteenth Edition [Hardcover]

Oxford University Press (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0195393287 | ISBN-13: 978-0195393286 | Edition: 16

The only world atlas updated annually, guaranteeing that users will find the most current geographic information, Oxford's Atlas of the World is the most authoritative resource on the market. The Sixteenth Edition remains the finest international reference source of its kind available. Including new census information, dozens of city maps, gorgeous satellite images of Earth, and a geographical glossary, this atlas offers exceptional value at a reasonable price.
Full of crisp, clear cartography of urban areas and virtually uninhabited landscapes around the globe, the Atlas has maps of 69 cities and nearly 100 different regions at carefully selected scales that give a striking view of the Earth's surface. Opening with world statistics and a colorful, instructive 48-page Introduction to World Geography--beautifully illustrated with tables and graphs--this acclaimed resource provides details on such topics as climate, the greenhouse effect, plate tectonics, agriculture, population and migration, and global conflicts. As in years past, this edition includes the latest geographic information. The popular satellite image section has been refreshed with stunning new images of different regions and urban areas. A completely updated Gazetteer of Nations provides an invaluable A-Z reference of concise country profiles, including statistics on economies, politics, and historical profiles.
Providing the finest global coverage available, the Atlas of the World is not only the best-selling volume of its size and price, but also the benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.



· Interior pages designed for heightened accuracy and ease of use



· Detailed city plans and country profiles make it the ultimate geographic reference

The Design
Oxford's Atlas of the World is a sturdy, high-quality, large-format book that is filled with crisp cartography, spectacular satellite imagery, and a wealth of information on changing conditions around the planet.

The Special Sections
Oxford's Atlas of the World provides an extensive intro to World Geography, up-to-date information on current events of geographical significance, captioned satellite images of the Earth, facts and figures on every sovereign state, and detailed coverage of 69 major urban areas.

The Quality of Information
Oxford's Atlas of the World is the only world atlas that is updated annually, guaranteeing that users will find the most current geographic information. It is the most authoritative resource on the market and offers the most current global information available today through a combination of statistics, maps, and photographs.

The History
Oxford University Press is known around the world for excellence, tradition, and innovation. The Atlas of the World is the best-selling volume of its size and price and the esteemed benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.

The Price
You receive a lavish, top-quality product at an excellent price that is comparable or lower than the main competitors.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The sixteenth edition of the Oxford Atlas of the World is chock-full of page-turning information, including new census data, dozens of city maps, updated country profiles, the latest statistics on climate change, gorgeous satellite images of Earth, and an instructive 48-page Introduction to World Geography--beautifully illustrated with tables and graphs. Providing the finest global coverage available, the Oxford Atlas of the World is not only the best-selling volume of its size and price, but also the benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.

Take a Look at the Stunning Illustrations in the Oxford Atlas of the World
(Click on images to enlarge)

The Solar System was formed about 5 billion years ago, when a spinning cloud of gas, mostly hydrogen but seeded with other heavier elements, condensed enough to ignite a nuclear reaction and create a star.

Sometimes called “The Crescent City,” New Orleans is situated between the south bank of Lake Ponchartrain (the largest in this view) and the Mississippi River.

This image shows glaciers flowing from the snow covered Himalayas on the northern Bhutan border.

This image shows just two of the more than 115 world city maps included in the Oxford Atlas of the World.

This diagram shows the wars fought around the world since 1945.

From Publishers Weekly

The latest revision of Oxford's highly acclaimed Atlas of the World is as up-to-date as can be in the post-September 11 world. "Site of former World Trade Center" says one caption on an updated map of lower Manhattan- and Baghdad has been added to the 67 maps of major cities around the world, including Moscow, Lisbon and Jerusalem. Statistics on the U.S. have been updated from the 2000 Census, and a new Gazetteer of Nations offers easy reference. But the heart, and strength, of this atlas remains the hundreds of colorful, beautifully detailed maps, conveying not only topographical features but also disputed boundaries, railways and principal roads. This is an indispensable reference for students as well as anyone interested in the state of the world, from population statistics to the environment and our impact on it. It will provide hours of happy, fascinating browsing.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 16 edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195393287
• ISBN-13: 978-0195393286
• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 11.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the gold standard - but the best value for money, November 11, 2005

By 

Boris Bangemann "boyse" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas of the World, 12th Edition (Hardcover)

This is the best atlas you can get in this price category. The gold standard of world atlases - The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World - will cost you three times as much as this one.

The features of the Oxford University Press's "Atlas of the World" are quite similar to the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. It has the same user-friendly overview over the maps contained in the atlas ("Key to the World/European Map Pages") on the insides of the front and back hardcover. And it has the same comprehensive index of names in the back, featuring not only the location of a certain place on the grid of a map, but also the place's longitude and latitude. As a bonus, there are 16 pages with stunning satellite pictures of - among others - cities like Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Sydney and Naples with Mount Vesuvius.

The main difference is the size of the two atlases: The Times Atlas is 19 by 13.3 inches, the Oxford Atlas is 15 by 11.3 inches. The bigger-sized maps of the Times Atlas allow greater detail.

If you still have small kids in the house who love to thumb through your books, this atlas will be your best choice. In its price category it is absolutely a 5-star book.

344 of 363 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE GOLD STANDARD, October 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Atlas of the World, 10th Edition (Hardcover)

In choosing a world atlas for my family, I looked at all that were available: from Oxford, National Geographic, Rand McNally, Hammond, DK, and other publishers. This new edition of the Oxford
Atlas of the World is clearly the gold standard. Just published, it is of course the most up-to-date atlas available. More importantly, it is accurate and detailed, exquisitely produced (a joy to look at)and very readable. Unlike other atlases, for example, the maps do not run into the gutters. The introductory section containing informational maps and data (country population, income, products,languages, etc.) and stunning satellite photos is virtually a book in itself and worth the price of admission. And for all that one gets, the price is more than reasonable. This is more than a reference book--it's a good read. I highly recommend it.

241 of 253 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ultimately disappointing, January 3, 2004

By 

R. Fusillo (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atlas of the World (Hardcover)

At first glance this is a beautiful, almost spectacular, book. Lots of color, dramatic aerial photos of the earth, and a large section devoted to topics ranging from the earth's history to modern population shifts.
But as a reference book it falls short. There are a lot of maps, but there is really less there than meets the first look: a lot of space is taken up with a narrowing down of detail - one map shows the hemisphere, then another an area of the hemisphere, then another a detail, of sorts, of the area. And often a detail of the detail. The cost to the reader is a lot of redundancy, and that very few countries get a full, detailed, page of their own. And many of the larger maps, especially, are quietly inaccurate. Towns are shown in the wrong places, major towns are missing at the expense of smaller ones. For a representative example: on map number 147, Statesboro, Georgia, which is 23 miles north of the I-16 expressway, is shown south of it; one of the largest cities in the hundred miles north of Atlanta, Marietta, is not there at all, but Roswell, 13 miles away, is shown at Marietta's location. Similar problems abound in other places.
As a geographical reference it lacks any claim to completeness: hundreds of towns that are shown and indexed in my forty year old Encyclopedia Britannica World Atlas are not in the new Oxford at all. There are over 84,000 listings in the old Britannica, Oxford claims 75,000, but quite a few are duplicates, because the same city appears on several of the various sized maps. Elkhart, Grapeland, Latexo, and scores and scores of other Texas towns that made it into the Britannica forty years when they were much smaller, are nowhere to be found in the new Oxford. They may be comparatively small towns, but a good atlas should show such things: I don't need an expensive coffee table book to find Dallas three times. And even when a town makes it, it gets short shrift: the Britannica index told us the county, state, and population of Creede, Colorado; the Oxford lists it merely as Creede, U.S.A.
Unfortunately, the Britannica appears to be out of print, but if you have one, don't replace it with the splashy Oxford, even tho it does have pretty pictures of the earth from outer space.