Continuing in the tradition of National Geographic`s world-renowned cartography, this top-selling, comprehensive atlas is perfectly sized for the entire family. Completely updated using dramatic cartographic innovations that have yielded new and compelling views of Earth, this atlas is an affordable asset for any student, home, or library. More than 1,000 maps, illustrations, pictures, graphs, charts, and flags provide a rich and technologically impressive collection of the world`s dynamic natural and human geographic phenomena. With 16 new pages, this Fourth Edition reflects a revamped and expanded section on the world thematics, Asia, and Space, along with a new section on flags and facts and a new spread on Mars featuring the latest, spectacular images and data from rover Curiosity. The moon is shown in incredible detail derived from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.Whether it`s the location of a place somewhere on the globe or in our local galaxy, the hottest or coldest place on Earth, the population of Brunei, or a need-to-know fact about the biosphere, world energy, geologic time, or environmental stresses, the information in Family Reference Atlas of the World will empower and enlighten its readers, and should be a part of every family library.