In a rich blend of cartography and photography, National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World celebrates the diverse natural and cultural treasures of the world, through photographic coverage of UNESCOs World Heritage Sites, that correlates to beautiful, informative, and accurate maps. In addition to hundreds of brilliant photographs, these newly compiled and designed map spreads provide accompanying textual descriptions. From the vast plains of the Serengeti to historic cities such as Vienna, Lima, and Kyoto; from the prehistoric rock art on the Iberian Peninsula to the statue of Liberty; from the Kasbah of Algiers to the Imperial Palace in Beijing - all of these places, as varied as they are, have one thing in common. All are World Heritage sites of outstanding cultural or natural value to humanity and are worthy of protection for future generations to know and enjoy. World thematic maps reflect fresh, dynamic compilations with the most accurate data available. These skillfully edited maps provide invaluable reference to the trends and characteristics of the critical issues of today: energy, population, religion, economy and trade, natural disasters, conflicts, and climate change. The atlas is organized by a succinct how-to-use section, an extensive world thematic section covering more than 30 natural and human topics, and the seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania, and Antarctica.All of the continents include regional map coverage, continental physical and political maps at the same scale, and continental thematic maps - all at the same scale for effective comparative views - that speak to population density, energy consumption, economies, climate, natural events and water availability. Following the continents are the remaining divisions of the atlas: Oceans, Space, an appendix of national flags, country facts and tables, and finally an improved, easy-to-use, comprehensive place-name index filled with over 50,000 entries, that grounds the atlas as an essential, practical, world reference tool.