Big News: 54 Countries Added to Google Maps!

Since the inception of Google Maps Mania I've been trying to keep readers current on what new country updates are hitting Google Maps. Google has announced a significant update to the number of countries with markings for streets, roads, place names and transportation routes on Google Maps. Here are some highlights from Dave Barth's post on the Google LatLong Blog titled: "More of the world for you to explore":

• 54 new countries added
• Double the coverage in Latin America
• Three times the coverage in the continent of Asia

Here's the full list of new countries:

Afghanistan, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen

More from Dave's post:
We have better detail for some countries than others, but this is just the beginning. In coming months, we'll be working tirelessly to add more detail to the existing countries in Google Maps, and we'll also be adding new countries to the list.

Another observation I have is that map labels are much easier to read when viewing the map on hybrid view. Take a look:


These new countries are visible when creating maps/mashups on My Maps as well as through the Google Maps API. So get mapping! :)

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