EuroGlobalMap

Background
EuroGlobalMap is a topographic dataset that covers the almost* whole of Europe at the scale 1:1 Million. It is produced in cooperation by the National Mapping Agencies of Europe, using official national databases.

*EGM Bulgaria coming 2010; some Balkan countries are missing.

Dataset
EuroGlobalMap follows ArcGIS Geodatabase structure and topological rules.  Features saved to the layers are points, nodes, lines, areas (polygons) and texts (annotations). For more details please download the EuroGlobalMap Specifications.

The database contain´s the following six themes. Each theme contains one or more features / feature classes with attributes:

• Administrative boundaries
  • International and national administrative boundaries. National administrative units down to NUTS3 -level (meaning mainly "county -level"). Unit codes identical as used in EuroBoundary map.
• Hydrography
  • Including lakes, reservoirs, rivers, springs, foreshore areas, snowfields and glaciers. Fictitious rivers through the waterbodies included (connected water network).
• Transport
  • Roads and railway lines including railway stations. Also ferry lines, ferry stations and airfields included. Exit points outside the Schengen area locating on borders.
• Settlements
  • Large cities as areas, smaller towns and villages as points. Settlements down to 1000 inhabitants included.
• Elevation
  • Point features (significant national elevation points). This is not a DEM.
• Named location
  • Geographical names without a connection to features included to the other themes e.g. name of a bay, highland, region, forest etc. Names of the lakes, rivers, railway stations, airfields etc are saved as attributes in corresponding features. Annotations available just in few areas.

All themes are in vector format.

Coordinates: Geographical in degrees (longitude, latitude) with decimal fraction and based on the ETRS 89 spatial reference system.

Update: Over a two years cycle (on average).

Standards: Harmonised data specifications synchronized with DIGEST standard and the metadata were designed according to ISO19115 standard.

Product format: ArcGIS Personal Geodatabase (version 9.1) format. Diverse formats might be available from VARs and distributors.

Data Providers
The data for EuroGlobalMap is produced by the European National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies, the members of EuroGeographics. They produce the data according the EuroGlobalMap Specifications, and the Regional Coordinators compile the national data sets into one seamless European database.

The main duty of the Regional Coordinators (RCs) is to lead the project in their area of responsibility. Each RC is the channel between the Project and the data providers in that region. The RCs disseminate the information about the EGM Project, transfer technology and provide general support to data providers. RCs take care of the quality control, compile the data from neighbouring countries and also take part in the finalisation of the entire pan European-database (data integration, final quality control etc).