Finally, Google Maps is offering driving and walking directions within Armenia. This is a convieniance that is certainly taken for granted in larger countries. In Armenia, up until recently either you knew where you were going or you had stop and ask a dozen people on the way. This may work for locals, but for the uninitiated and the tourist it was daunting reaching places that were even slightly off of the main thoroughfares.

Fortunately, this has been enabled just in time for tourist season here in Yerevan. Google Maps with its translated-into-every-languge interface is going to be a useful tool for those wishing to explore the city.

Cursory use (see Figure 1) has shown that the directions are fairly accurate and will at least get you where your going, though not always using the quickest route.

Whats in a map?

So, how does Google map a given area to the point where it’s able to tell you how to get from point A to point B? In countries like the US it relies on extremely detailed and already digitized maps, aggregating information from a meriad of geogrpahic data. In a country like Armenia, this sort of data just isn’t available on the street level.

Another way Google can enhance their maps is by aggregating geographic data from geotagged information on the internet. Examples of this include geotagged images on Flickr or geotagged tweets. This doesn’t create a complete map, but it does enrich a map with contextual information.

Becoming a Cartographer

When it gets down to the nitty gritty of where buildings are located, their addresses, what streets are called, which direction they run in, the names of neighborhoods, etc… countries like Armenia are left wanting for accurate data. In this case Google wisely does not send out a team of cartographers to map a given area, instead they’ve turned to the people that know that area best and given them the tools to describe the place they live in.

In Armenia’s case we have many many anonymous individuals to thank for quietly and painstakingly mapping the places in which they live, until eventually the maps achieved the level of quality necessary for providing directions.

Its Your Turn Now

I think having a wonderfully mapped Armenia, with maps that provide contextually rich information, is a very important step towards being modern country. This allows for the development of online applications which enhance civil and business society, as well as give locals and business people access to otherwise obscure information. Websites like Yelp, or Foursquare would be impossible without Google Map’s API data.

According to Programmable Web there are currently 1943 registered websites that use Google Maps API data (the actual number is probably much higher). Ostensibly most of these websites use Google Maps to enhance their websites, many of them are non-profits.

In order to realize this you should contribute to Armenia’s maps. If you know of a good restaurant, a quality service-provider, or a vital landmark that can’t be found on Google Maps, go to Map Maker and add it yourself.