Asia Maps: Digital Collections
Major digital collections of maps of Asia, regions within Asia, and individual countries can be found at the following selected sites. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and will be updated frequently – please send your comments and suggestions of additional useful Asia map sites to remurow@bu.edu.
Robert Murowchick
BU Center for the Study of Asia
Comprehensive Digital Map Collections:
Originally a collaboration between Klokan Technologies GmbH, Switzerland and The Great Britain Historical GIS Project (University of Portsmouth, UK), this fantastic collection now indexes some 400,000 maps dating from 1550 to 2000 representing the collections contributed by 35 participating libraries and archives around the world. Searches can be undertaken by entering a term or by drawing a rectangle on a world map, with yields a list of relevant maps on the right side of the page. The individual maps are zoomable, although the quality of the resolution depends upon the nature of the scan provided by the source institution.
Europeana Collections
The superb Europeana website brings together the finest digital images from participating national libraries, archives, and museums across Europe, now totaling more than 53 million images. To find maps, in the initial search window enter the region or country of interest and “map”. A search for “China map”, for example, yields over 4,600 maps, images, and texts.
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: 10. Asia
This site contains links to hundreds of online digital map collections, organized by country and region.
Collections with Maps | Library of Congress
The Library of Congress holds the world’s most comprehensive map collection “…numbering over 5.5 million maps, 80,000 atlases, 6,000 reference works, over 500 globes and globe gores, 3,000 raised relief models, and a large number of cartographic materials in other formats, including over 19,000 cds/dvds.” A small but growing subset of this collection is available online in digital form. A search for particular regions or countries yields a list and thumbnail images of relevant holdings. The “Discovery and Exploration” collection holds a number of high-resolution maps of Asia from the 15th through 19th c.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
This collection, originally the private collection of David Rumsey and now housed at Stanford University, contains more than 150,000 maps and other cartographic items from the 16th through 21st centuries, with more than 1000 maps in its Asia collection. Individual maps are zoomable, and are of very high resolution.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas: Asia
The UT map collection in the Perry-Castañeda Library contains more than 250,000 maps, of which about 1/3 have been digitized and are available online. Searches are very straightforward in a cascading list Asiaàregionsàindividual countries. Selected historical, thematic, and topographic maps are included. Of particular interest are comprehensive collections of US AMS (Army Map Service) sheets.
Harvard Map Collection – Harvard College Library
The Harvard Library map collection is one of the largest and oldest collections in the US. Established in 1818, it now holds 400,000 maps, 6,000 atlases, and 5,000 reference books. A subset of these are now available in digital form at http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/maps/digitalmaps/. The process for viewing a map is a bit circuitous: When you undertake a search, you will see a list of found maps; click on “full record,” then click on the HGL ID (Harvard Geospatial Library ID) link. Add the map to your shopping cart; the compressed image will be sent to your e-mail account as a .zip file. When uncompressed, you are rewarded with a spectacularly detailed image in .jp2 format.
Digital Collections, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries
A search for “map” yields over 9,000 scanned images; further refine your search with additional search terms (e.g. India map; Japan map)
American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Excellent digital scans drawn from the American Geographical Society (AGS) map collection; browsable and searchable by country.
John Carter Brown Map Collection, Brown University
The John Carter Brown library at Brown University (Providence, RI USA) contains more than 13,000 items, including over 4,000 maps. The Asian collection provides high-resolution zoomable scans of over 300 maps dating between the early 16th c. and the late 19th c.
Asian Maps Collection, University of Southern California
This USC collection focuses on East and Southeast Asia, with a particularly interesting Sea of Korea Collection of northeast Asian maps dating from 1601 to 1895.
Historical Maps of Asia, University of Alabama
Historical Maps of East Asia, University of Alabama
Organized chronologically, these digitized maps are viewable and zoomable but only in a relatively small window.
National Archief – National Archive of the Netherlands Kaartencollectie | Map Collection
Particularly strong collection of Southeast Asian maps of the Dutch colonial period.
National Library of Australia Map Collection
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library
Ryhiner collection: maps of the world – University of
Antique Atlas
Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Asia Collection
Newberry Library (Chicago) Maps, Travel, and Exploration Collection
Newberry Library (Chicago) Special Map Collections and Strengths
Osher Map Library, University of Southern Maine
Small but superb collection of world maps built around the core collections of Eleanor and Lawrence M.C. Smith, and Harold and Peggy Osher; includes about 50 high-resolution maps of Asia and individual countries from the 15th-19th centuries.
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: East Asia
Antiquarian Map Vendors with important Asia collections:
A number of antiquarian map dealers also consistently maintain rich offerings of Asia-related maps viewable as high-resolution images. These include:
Antique Atlas Online Catalogue
Paulus Swaen Map Auction and Galleries
Jonathan Potter Antique Maps
The Map House of London
Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
Bergbook Rare Antique Maps
Murray Hudson Antique Maps, Globes, and Prints – China
Brian DeMambro Rare Books and Maps
Antique Print Room – Sydney :: MAPS World
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.
Barry Lawrence Ruderman City Plans of Asian Cities
Tooley Adams & Co. Antiquarian Maps and Atlases
Notable Collections of Asian Regions and Countries:
Maps of China
Maps of China in the Perry-Casteñeda Library, University of Texas
Maps of China in the David Rumsey Map Collection
Presents 540 high-resolution maps from the mid-16th through the 20th centuries.
Army Map Service L500 Series maps of China, Harvard College Library
Maps of China, Library of Congress
This site presents more than 400 scanned maps selected from the Library of Congress’s collection of more than 5,000 maps of China
Maps of China, Visual Cultures of East Asia
Provincial Maps of China中國分省地圖冊
Shanghai Maps Database (Virtual Shanghai), Osaka City University
Straightforward collection of medium-resolution scans of nearly 800 maps of Shanghai from 1858 to 2008.
Several interesting Chinese blog sites provide maps of varying scan quality. Many surprises are to be found, as long as the pop-up ads don’t annoy you. The content is constantly changing as users upload additional materials. These blogs include:
Historical Maps of Nanjing南京老地图（160图）
Historical Maps of SHANGHAI 上海老地图（174图）
Japanese Military maps of China, WWII 二战日军军用航空图
Japanese Maps of China, WWII 日版、民国军用地图 （50 图）
Maps of numerous Chinese provinces, 1850 清二京十八省与地图
Beijing Republican army maps 北京民国军用地图 （37 图）
NationMaster – Maps of China (95 in total)
China Data Center, University of Michigan 密西根大学中国信息研究中心 provides a range of traditional and GIS maps; population, economic, and other thematic data, administrative boundary maps of China 1949-2015 (as GIS shape maps), and other resources, many of which are free. An introductory video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxHxQftFZXA&feature=youtu.be
Maps of Southeast Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Southeast Asia
Historical Maps of Southeast Asia, University of Alabama
The Geography of East and Southeast Asia, Hofstra University Map Library
Kaarten van de VOC (Maps of the Dutch East Indies Company) | GAHETNA
Carte Cambodge, Angkor, histoire, documents en ligne LEXILOGOS
Dutch Colonial maps in the collection of the Royal Tropical Institute, Leiden University Libraries
L’Indochine Coloniale – Plan et Cartes (Maps of French Colonial Indochina)
Maps of South Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: South Asia
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Indian Ocean
Maps of South Asia, Columbia University Library
Historical Maps of South Asia before 1825, University of Alabama
Maps from the Imperial Gazetteer of India (volumes 1-24)
Provides high-resolution scans of the maps contained in the 24-volume Imperial Gazetteer, published in various editions between 1881 and 1931. The full text with detailed geographical, historical, ethnic, linguistic, economic, and administrative information can be found at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/
India Maps, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas
Maps and Data, Survey of India (SOI)
Antique Maps of India, Map House of London
Antique Maps of India and Nepal
Antique Maps of India, Bergbook.com
Maps of India and South Asia, Virtual Art Map Fair
Provides options for size of file, from small to huge
Murray Hudson Antique Maps, Globes, and Prints — India
A huge collection, currently presenting more than 1,600 maps of India, downloadable as high-resolution images
Tibet Maps – From the Collections of the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL)
A Historical Atlas of South Asia, edited by Joseph E. Schwartzberg. Digital South Asia Library
India PlaceFinder (Mizushima Lab, University of Tokyo and Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago)
A tool for finding geographic information about Indian place names.
Maps of Japan:
Japanese Historical Map Collection, David Rumsey Collection
The Japanese Historical Map Collection presents 1,900 digitized early maps of Japan from a collection of 2,300 early maps of Japan and the World acquired by the University of California from the Mitsui family in 1949. The collection is housed in UC-Berkeley’s C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
Japan Maps in the Perry-Casteneda Library, University of Texas
Historical Maps of Japan
No-frills maps illustrating changing historical political borders from premodern Japan through 1600
Historical Maps of Japan (University of Alabama)
Tokyo Archive, Tokyo Metropolitan Library 「東京都立図書館・東京アーカイブ」
The Tokyo Archive specializes in materials related to Edo and Tokyo, and includes maps of pre-modern Tokyo.
Historical, Demographic and Economic Maps of Japan (G. William Skinner collection, University of Washington Libraries)
Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, “Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or “maps of outer lands.” These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan’s borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including “mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications.” Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond.”
Historical Maps of Japan
Includes links to hundreds of individual maps of Japan in other institutional collections or publications
Le Japon en cartes (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
The Maps and Plans department of the National Library of France was created in 1828 under the direction of Edme François Jomard (1777-1862), a former geographer who took part in Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign. In France, this creation is contemporary with the development of geographic sciences and knowledge of the Earth. The collections were initially made up of catalogue records from the King’s Library and revolutionary seizures, such as those from the former Saint-Victor abbey in Paris. The increase in collections was fueled by the Legal Deposit of Cards and by an acquisitions policy led by successive directors. In the twentieth century, two important collections were added: the archives of the Marine Maps Depot, comprising more than 15,000 documents, and the collection of the Parisian geographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville comprising 10,500 documents, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Maps of Central Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Central Asia
Cyrillic Maps of East and Central Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Mongolia | Indiana University Libraries
An extensive collection of maps produced by Russia/the Soviet Union between 1890 and 1940
19th-Century Maps of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, University of Chicago Library
Selecting a polygon on a world map brings a list of relevant maps, each of which is viewable in very high resolution
Maps of Southwest Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Southwest Asia
19th-Century Maps of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, University of Chicago Library
Selecting a polygon on a world map brings a list of relevant maps, each of which is viewable in very high resolution
Some interesting thematic collections:
Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, “Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or “maps of outer lands.” These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan’s borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including “mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications.” Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond.”
Asian Cities – Late 19th- and early 20th-century maps, University of Chicago Library 
Map Collection
The library holds a large collection of Asian city maps, a selection of which are available online as 400 dpi scans.
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami maps in the Perry-Casteñeda Library, University of Texas
Soil maps of Asia. European Commission Joint Research Centre, European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC)
Historical Maps of Pacific Theatre in WWII
South China Sea territorial debate
provides an interesting array of maps of the South China Sea published by different sources in 1937, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1951 and later. If you click on each individual map, you can download a very high resolution scan.
Basic Outline Maps of Asia and the Pacific
This site provides copyright-free outline maps (with and without labels) for classroom use.
Geo-Spatial Digital Archive Project for Southeast Asia, Bangkok
Maps of South Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: South Asia
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Indian Ocean
Maps of South Asia, Columbia University Library
Historical Maps of South Asia before 1825, University of Alabama
Maps from the Imperial Gazetteer of India (volumes 1-24)
Provides high-resolution scans of the maps contained in the 24-volume Imperial Gazetteer, published in various editions between 1881 and 1931. The full text with detailed geographical, historical, ethnic, linguistic, economic, and administrative information can be found at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/
India Maps, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas
Maps and Data, Survey of India (SOI)
Antique Maps of India, Map House of London
Antique Maps of India and Nepal
Antique Maps of India, Bergbook.com
Maps of India and South Asia, Virtual Art Map Fair
Provides options for size of file, from small to huge
Murray Hudson Antique Maps, Globes, and Prints — India
A huge collection, currently presenting more than 1,600 maps of India, downloadable as high-resolution images
Tibet Maps – From the Collections of the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL)
A Historical Atlas of South Asia, edited by Joseph E. Schwartzberg. Digital South Asia Library
India PlaceFinder (Mizushima Lab, University of Tokyo and Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago)
A tool for finding geographic information about Indian place names.
Maps of Japan:
Japanese Historical Map Collection, David Rumsey Collection
The Japanese Historical Map Collection presents 1,900 digitized early maps of Japan from a collection of 2,300 early maps of Japan and the World acquired by the University of California from the Mitsui family in 1949. The collection is housed in UC-Berkeley’s C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
Japan Maps in the Perry-Casteneda Library, University of Texas
Historical Maps of Japan
No-frills maps illustrating changing historical political borders from premodern Japan through 1600
Historical Maps of Japan (University of Alabama)
Tokyo Archive, Tokyo Metropolitan Library 「東京都立図書館・東京アーカイブ」
The Tokyo Archive specializes in materials related to Edo and Tokyo, and includes maps of pre-modern Tokyo.
Historical, Demographic and Economic Maps of Japan (G. William Skinner collection, University of Washington Libraries)
Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, “Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or “maps of outer lands.” These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan’s borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including “mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications.” Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond.”
Historical Maps of Japan
Includes links to hundreds of individual maps of Japan in other institutional collections or publications
Maps of Central Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Central Asia
Cyrillic Maps of East and Central Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Mongolia | Indiana University Libraries
An extensive collection of maps produced by Russia/the Soviet Union between 1890 and 1940
19th-Century Maps of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, University of Chicago Library
Selecting a polygon on a world map brings a list of relevant maps, each of which is viewable in very high resolution
Maps of Southwest Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Southwest Asia
19th-Century Maps of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, University of Chicago Library
Selecting a polygon on a world map brings a list of relevant maps, each of which is viewable in very high resolution
Some interesting thematic collections:
Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, “Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or “maps of outer lands.” These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan’s borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including “mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications.” Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond.”
Asian Cities – Late 19th- and early 20th-century maps, University of Chicago Library Map Collection
The library holds a large collection of Asian city maps, a selection of which are available online as 400 dpi scans.
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami maps in the Perry-Casteñeda Library, University of Texas
Soil maps of Asia. European Commission Joint Research Centre, European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC)
Historical Maps of Pacific Theatre in WWII
South China Sea territorial debate
provides an interesting array of maps of the South China Sea published by different sources in 1937, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1951 and later. If you click on each individual map, you can download a very high resolution scan.
If you or your students would like to test your knowledge of maps and geography, try out the following terrific self-quiz sites that challenge the user to test their map and geography skills. There are MANY options, ranging from pretty simple to ridiculously difficult. Give them a try!