6 HOW TO USE THIS ATLAS GETTING STARTED How To Use This Atlas YOU ARE HERE Locator globes help you see where one area is in relation to others On regional pages Ishown herel the area covered by the main map is yellow on the globe and its continent is green On pages with continent maps the locator globe shows the whole continent in yellow The surrounding land is brown This atlas is a window on your planet Through it you can explore the world To learn about maps use the first section Understanding Maps Next basic facts about Earth as a planet are presented in the section called Planet Earth The section Physical World includes world maps that focus on different aspects of nature and the environment The Political World contains world maps about how humans live on the planet In the pages that follow the maps photographs and essays are arranged by continent and region You can look up specific places or just browse Remember it's your planet learn it love it explore it 115 SOUTHWEST ASIA Southwest Asia This region made up largely of deserts and mountains includes the coun tries of the Arabian Peninsula and those that border the Persian Gul Islam is the dominant religion in each and the two holl est places for Muslims Mecca and Medina are here Arabic is the principal language everywhere butiran where most people speak Farst While water has been the most portant natural resource here for millennia global attention has focused in recent decades on the region's oil wealth With the major ity of the world's reserves found here oil has brought outside offences and military con flict Long a cradle of c ation Southwest Asia continues to hold the world's attention STATS FACTS At the left hand edge of each continent opener and regional page is a bar that includes basic information about the subject This feature is a great first stop if you're writing a report CHARTS GRAPHS Each region includes a chart or graph that shows information visually South America WHERE ARE THE PICTURES If you want to know where a picture in the regional sections of this atlas was taken look for the map in the photo essay Find the label that describes the picture you're curious about and follow the line to its location Maps use symbols to stand for political and physical features At right is the key to the symbols used in this atlas If you are wondering what you're looking at on a map here check
HOW TO USE THIS ATLAS 7 GETTING STARTED INDEX AND GRID Look through the index for the place name you want Next to it is a page number a letter and another number Go to the page Draw imaginary lines from the letter along the side of the map and the number along the top Your place will be close to where the lines meet Rio Muni region Equatorial Guinea 135 F7 Rivera Uruguay 81 04 Riverside California IU S 62 E2 Riviera regionl Europe 84 F3 Rivne Ukraine 95 D6 Rivadh Saudi Arabia 117 EL COLOR BARS Every section of this atlas has its own color Look for the color on the Contents pages and across the top of every page in the atlas Within that color bar you'll see the name of the section and the title for each topic or map These color bars are a handy way to find the section you want SOUTHWEST ASU North America South America Europe Asia Africa Australia New Zealand Oceania Antarctica REDES ARABIAN SEA BAR SCALE If you want to find out how far it is from one place on a map to another use the scale A bar scale appears on every map It shows how distance on paper relates to distance in the real world GULF OF ADEN MAP KEY Mountain peak with elevation above sea level Waterfall Dry Salt Lake Glacier Low point with elevation below sea level City Town Country capital State Provincial capital Small country Ruin Swamp Sand Defined boundary Undefined boundary Claimed boundary Dam Canal Ice Shelf Reef Lake Intermittent Lake Tundra Lava Below sea level Point of Interest River
8 EXPLORING YOUR WORLD UNDERSTANDING MAPS Exploring Your World COMPUTER ENHANCED VIEWS OF THE WORLD CONTINENT COUNTRY Earth is a big place Even from space you can't see it all at one time But with a map you can see the whole world or just a part of it Thanks to the Internet you can download programs that allow you to experience Earth from space pick a place you want to explore and zoom closer and closer until you are standing right there These screenshots right take you from space to Chicago at the click of a mouse You can even find a satellite view of your house see below Compare the computer enhanced satel lite images with the maps on the opposite page and you will see how the same places can be shown in very different ways You will want to explore all these ways to really get to know your world Chicago PEGION STATE Chicago METROPOLITAN AREA Chicago FIND YOUR HOUSE This image from Skyline Globe shows the National Geographic offices in Washington D C To see your house go to www skylineglobe com one of several websites that allow you to view satellite imagery of the world CITY SKYLINE Maryland Napahic National Geographic Washington DC
EXPLORING YOUR WORLD 9 UNDERSTANDING MAPS STATE MAP This political map allows a close look at the state of Illinois in the midwestern region of the United States This large scale map shows only a small part of Earth's surface but it includes such details as boundaries physical features and selected cities This map is good for examining relationships within the state COUNTRY MAP WORLD MAP As the scale of a map becomes smaller you can see more of Earth but in less detail The map of the United States abovel has a smaller scale than the state map topl This means you can see the entire country and the location of Illinois relative to other states but you can no longer see as many details within the state The world map Iright has an even smaller scale How is this map different from the other two It's all a matter scale of
