Mapping Wikipedia is a project from TraceMedia and the Oxford Internet Institute.
Using Google Maps Mapping Wikipedia allows you to map the geography of all geotagged Wikipedia articles in a number of different languages. It can also create maps based on the word count of articles, the date created, number of authors, and number of images.
If you are interested about how the map was created TraceMedia has provided an outline of the tools used in building the application.
Amud Anan is an online travel guide and geographical encyclopaedia for Israel.
The map uses the Google Maps API with topographical map tiles of Israel to display user submitted points of interest. As well as adding points of interest users can add routes and trails to the map.
The map is in Hebrew only and is available as a desktop and as an iPhone and iPad application.
Ragtag Map of Wikipedia Articles The Ragtag blog has created a Google Map of every Wikipedia page tagged with a latitude and longitude. 424,171 articles in Wikipedia have been geotagged. You can see the geographical distribution of the articles in the heat map above.
Ragtag were also able to find 14,238 historical events that were geotagged on Wikipedia. By plotting the events by year and location Ragtag have managed to create a dynamic visualisation that gives a rough idea of the history of the world in 100 seconds.
Wikihood Wikihood uses Google Maps to present you with information and selected images from Wikipedia relevant to any given location.
The application lets you see at a glance which Wikipedia articles are related to any chosen location. The displayed articles and images include information on people, culture, buildings, companies and organizations and geographical information.
As well as being available for the desktop Wikihood is available for the iPad and the iPhone. The mobile applications in particular are very useful for getting local information from Wikipedia when out and about.
Geosay Geosay is a local information Google Map for finding out what people are saying about different locations on foursquare, Twitter and Wikipedia.
To use the map just enter a location and you can see all the results directly on the Google Map. The results are also listed in the map sidebar, ordered by distance.
It is easy to create a marker for Geosay. Just add the hashtag #geosay to any geolocated tweet and it will be stored in the Geosay database and appear on the map. Geosay has a mobile version of the map. Just go to http://geosay.com in the browser of your mobile phone and you can find local tips wherever you happen to be.
GeoLocator GeoLocator is a great tool for streamlining the process of geotagging, especially for Wikipedians. It is a Google Maps based tool that allows you to drop a map marker on any location and retrieve the latitude and longitude.
For anyone writing or wanting to geo-tag a Wikipedia article the tool automatically authors the geocoding templates for Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons multimedia content.
GeoLocator also includes a link to direct you to the chosen location on Wikimapia and comes with a permalink option so that you can grab a link to the chosen location on GeoLocator.
Near to Here is an iPhone application that uses Google Maps to show you the interesting things around you.
The Near to Here application determines your current location and finds nearby interesting stuff. As you pass by landmarks the application alerts you with the Wikipedia entry of those landmarks.
The developers of Near to Here say that "whether you are passing by a plaza in Rome, playing near a fountain in Paris, strolling through Times Square in New York ... this application will give you all the information you need to be an informed traveler."
The Full Wiki is a great attempt to map all of Wikipedia using Google Maps.
'So what?' I hear you ask. Wikipedia already lets you view locations on maps and Google Maps also has a Wikipedia layer so that you can look up information about locations directly on the map.
However, The Full Wiki is different because it maps all the locations mentioned in a Wikipedia entry. So, for example, if you look up '1945' in The Full Wiki all the locations mentioned in the entry are mapped. So you can see at a glance all the major events of 1945 directly on a Google Map.
The map and the article are linked throughout. Click on a map marker and it jumps to that part of the article. Click on an article marker and it will show you that location on the map.
Here's another great example. Look up The Renaissance in The Full Wiki and you can read about this cultural movement in its historical context and the accompanying map gives its geographical context.
Some more examples:
Ferdinand Magellan got around a bit. Now you can see where he explored during his travels.
Barack Obama has the most international background of any recent US president. See it mapped.
This is definitely one Google Maps mashup that I can see myself using on a daily basis. Also See
Wikimapia - Wikimapia is an online editable map - you can describe any place on Earth or just surf the map to discover information about the locations that interest you.
