Order Code RS21396
Updated May 26, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Iraq: Map Sources
Hannah Fischer
Information Research Specialist
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
This report identifies selected websites for maps of Iraq, including government,
library, and organizational websites. Maps of the Middle East, Iraq, facilities used by
U.S. forces in the Gulf, and U.S. government humanitarian assistance and reconstruction
activities in Iraq are also provided. This report will be updated as needed.
Map Sources
Links to basic static maps of Iraq and the Middle East region are provided below.
Map resources are arranged in alphabetical order, with the exception of the description
of the Perry-Castaneda Library website. This description has been placed first because of
the exceptional breadth of Iraq maps and links to Iraq maps offered by the Library’s
website.
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection: Iraq Maps
[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/iraq.html]
The University of Texas website offers a variety of maps, including many maps from
the CIA. It has many historical maps and provides links to Iraq maps on other websites.
Central Intelligence Agency Maps
[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/mapspub]
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) creates maps of various parts of the world
and has started to make some available for viewing on the Internet. Purchase information
is provided at this site.
Conflict with Iraq: Key Maps
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_iraq_key_maps/html/daily_s
trikes/link1.stm]
This website is a product of the BBC. Key maps include “Baghdad from the air,”
“Mass grave sites,” “Campaign overview,” “Iraqi oilfields,” and “Presidential sites.”
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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HIC Humanitarian Information Center for Iraq: Security Maps
[http://www.uniraq.org/library/maps.asp]
These U.N. maps are arranged into two sections — Geographic and Thematic — and
can be searched for specific products through the Map Catalogue.
Library of Congress Geography and Map Reading Room Online Map Collections
A limited selection of CIA maps is found at the Geography and Map collections
website. These are historical collections covering the years 1500-1999. The division’s
Places in the News [http://tinyurl.com/cu723] site features 29 Iraq maps.
National Geographic Map Machine
[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps]
This website offers “printer friendly maps,” a “map machine” that generates different
kinds of maps for different areas of the world, and provides a wide variety of geographic
information on the nations of the world.
ReliefWeb
[http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/doc114?OpenForm]
The Relief website is a project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and offers information and maps on areas of the world
requiring humanitarian relief. Maps of Iraq located on this website, dated 2001 through
2006, include “USG Humanitarian Assistance and Reconstruction Activities in Iraq,
2003,” “Iraq: Status of Investigations of Mass Grave Sites, 2004,” and other maps of
general interest.
Special Report: War in Iraq
[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/maps/index.html]
This Cable News Network (CNN) website offers many maps on Iraq, which include
former weapons of mass destruction (WMD) sites, Iraqi military, political, terrain,
population, oil fields, regional, palaces, and the U.S. and coalition forces.
United Nations
[http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/iraq.pdf]
This website provides the UN reference maps of Iraq in an easily printable one-page
PDF.

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Figure 1. Map of Iraq
Source: CIA maps, provided by the Perry-Castaneda Library, at
[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/iraq.html]

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Figure 2. Map of Middle East

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Figure 3. Facilities Used by U.S. Forces in the Gulf

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This map shows humanitarian assistance and reconstruction activities in Iraq. A clearer image of the
map is available at [http://tinyurl.com/cbucl].

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