With superbly crafted maps covering the entire globe, the Essential World Atlas, Fifth Edition highlights the best aspects of Oxford's atlas line in a handy and affordable paperback format. In addition to a unique city-mapping program that takes the viewer deeper into the workings of urban spaces, this edition offers several new and innovative features. The inclusion of numerous maps of islands in the South Pacific and the Caribbean distinguishes this atlas from its competitors, and it features dozens of thematic maps, charts, and graphs explaining many fundamental concepts in human geography.


The new Fifth Edition also contains hundreds of up-to-the-minute political and topographical changes since the last edition including:


New national parks in Norway, Turkey, South Africa, Uganda and Costa Rica


New international airports added in Congo, Cape Verde Islands, Philippines, Korea, and India


New high speed rail lines in China


New Kosovo and Iraq flags


New rail link joining North and South Korea


New Lotschberg rail tunnel in Switzerland