We inhabit a fascinating and mysterious planet where the earth s physical features，<br > life-forms， and the diversity of human culture conspire to produce a breathtaking environment.<br >We don t have to travel very far to see and experience the wealth of this diverse planet; in fact，<br >we don t have to travel at all. Everywhere images of the world are abundantly available in books，<br >newspapers， magazines， movies， television， and the arts. We could say that everywhere one looks，<br >our world is a brilliant moving tapestry of shapes， colors， and textures， and our experience of its<br >many messages -- whether in our travels or simply by gazing out into our own backyards --<br >is what we call reality.<br > Geography is the study of a portion of that reality. More so， it is the study of how the<br >physical and biological components (rocks， animals， plants， and people) of our planet are<br >distributed and how they are interconnected. Geographers seek to describe and to explain the<br >physical patterns that have evolved on the earth and also to discover the significance in the ways<br >they have evolved. To do this， geographers rely on maps.<br > Maps can be powerful images. They convey selective information about vast areas of an<br >overwhelmingly cluttered world. The cartographer， or mapmaker， must carefully choose the<br >theme of a map， that is， what it will show， knowing that a good map will convey the essence of<br >information while at the same time making the information easy to comprehend.<br > This volume and its companions in UNDERSTANDING AND USING MAPS are about the planet<br >we call earth and the maps we use to find our way along its peaks and valleys. Each volume<br >displays map images that reveal how the world is arranged according to a specific theme such as<br >population， industries or the endangered world. The maps in each volume are accompanied by an<br >interesting collection of facts -- some are rather obvious， others are oddities. Yet all are meant to<br >be informative.<br > Along with a wealth of facts， there are explanations of the various attributes and<br >phenomena depicted by the maps. This information is provided to better understand the<br >significance of the maps as well as to demonstrate how the many themes relate.<br > Names for places are essential to geographers. To study the world without devising names<br >for places would be extremely difficult. But geographers also know that names are in no way<br >permanent; place names change as people change. The recent reunification of Germany and the<br >breakup of what was the Soviet Union -- events that seem colossal from the perspective of<br >socioeconomics -- to geographers are simply events that require the drawing or erasing of one or<br >a few boundaries and the renaming of one or several land masses. The geographer is constantly<br >reminded that the world is in flux; a map is always in danger of being rendered obsolete by a turn<br >in current events.<br >