Whether planning a vacation, keeping in touch with world news, solving crosswords, or just exploring the world, this completely updated atlas has all the necessary information. 260 pages of mapping provide an amazingly detailed view of the world, and the illustrated thematic content covers the most important geographical issues of the day. The reference mapping, produced in the beautifully clear and distinctive Times style, has been revised with thousands of changes reflecting recent geopolitical and geographical changes around the world. Updated plans of 32 of the world's great cities are included on the reference maps of the country in which they are located for easy reference. All thematic and statistical information in the introductory section has been updated to reflect current geographical and global issues. Detailed information is included on such topics as world population, cities, climate, the environment, and telecommunications. The comprehensive index contains more than 130,000 place names, fully cross-referenced with alternative and former names. Read Less