google maps

Google Maps provides high-resolution satellite images for most urban areas in India, Canada and the United States (including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) as well as parts of Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Chile, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. Google Maps also covers many cities including Istanbul, Moscow, and most of India and Pakistan.

Various governments have complained about the potential for terrorists to use the satellite images in planning attacks^[1]. Google has blurred some areas for security (mostly in the United States),^{[citation needed]} including the U.S. Naval Observatory area (where the official residence of the Vice President is located), and until recently,^{[citation needed]} the United States Capitol and the White House (which formerly featured erased housetop). Other well-known government installations are visible including Area 51 in the Nevada desert. Not all areas on Satellite images are covered with the same resolution detail. Places that are less populated are usually not covered in much detail as compared to populated areas. It may take a few years to cover an area for greater depth. In some areas, there are patches of clouds which make the map cluttered.^[2] With the introduction of an easily pannable and searchable mapping and satellite imagery tool, Google's mapping engine prompted a surge of interest in satellite imagery. Sites were established which feature satellite images of interesting natural and man-made landmarks, including such novelties as "large type" writing visible in the imagery, as well as famous stadia and unique geological formations. As of November 2008^[update], the U.S. National Weather Service also now uses Google Maps within its local weather forecasts, showing the 5 times 5 km "point forecast" squares used in forecast models. [2]

Although Google uses the word "satellite", most of the high-resolution imagery is aerial photography taken from airplanes rather than from satellites.