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Google publishing more detailed North Korea maps with crowdsourced data

Google publishing more detailed North Korea maps with crowdsourced data

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pyongyang google maps
pyongyang google maps

North Korea has always been one of the few blind spots in Google Maps' efforts to detail the world, but the situation is set to get a little better. Google has announced that it will be leveraging input from users of its Map Maker software to publish more comprehensive maps of the secretive state. The update hasn't been pushed live yet, but a released image shows roads and other cartographical information added to the area around the capital of Pyongyang, which currently appears as a blank geographical expanse.

Of course, as Google chairman Eric Schmidt made clear during his recent trip to the country, the vast majority of North Korean citizens won't be able to access these maps themselves, with internet access restricted to all but an elite few. But as Google notes in a blog entry, the map data is particularly important for South Korean citizens with family in the North or historical connections to the region, as well as more general observers from around the world.