Swiss maps are better than ever

The Swiss are world leaders in mapmaking. Now, for the first time, the federal mapping agency swisstopo has created a map for smartphones or computers that can display “geodata” – computerised geographical data – on a scale of 1 to 10,000. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

The new national maps are more detailed than ever. They are accessible for everyone on desktop and mobile, and increasingly iovative to meet the demands of a world in which anyone who owns a smartphone can download GPS and map data from anywhere.

For example, swisstopo devised an online “time travel” tool that allows users to choose a spot on the Swiss map and watch, through an instant overlay of map editions, how that place has changed over a certain period of time.

Demand for up-to-date and accurate geodata is constantly increasing, swisstopo says. In a first, a new map of the nation is to be automatically produced each year. Swisstopo still prints paper maps on a scale of 1 to 25,000. Half a million every year if only because no one else can economically produce them. Five times as many are printed out by people at home.