Preliminary data now available
We announced plans at the 2021 NACIS conference to build a more accurate and slightly more detailed new version of Natural Earth. Three years and countless hours later, we are pleased to share what we have created. Below you will find links to the preliminary vector and raster data for the entire world.
Your feedback is essential for improving the dataset. Please contact us about any problems you spot, such as positioning errors, unconnected lines, wrong names, and features to be added or deleted. Thanks!
Tom Patterson and Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso
Learn More
Natural Earth 6.0
Preliminary Map Data at 1:10,000,000
Contact us
Have you spotted a problem? Or do you want to become a Natural Earth volunteer? We would like to hear from you.
Tom and Nathaniel
Vector Data
Video: 2021 NACIS conference presentation. 25:42
Video: 2022 NACIS conference presentation. 13:53
Includes coastlines, rivers, lakes, glaciers, ice shelves, coral reefs, urban areas, bathymetry, country borders (Admin0) and province/state borders (Admin1).
These preliminary data are a work in progress. Use with appropriate caution.
Raster Data
Shaded Relief (GeoTIFF, 32,400 x 16,200 pixels)
Natural Earth 1 (GeoTIFF, 32,400 x 16,200 pixels)
Natural Earth 2 (GeoTIFF, 32,400 x 16,200 pixels)
Cross-Blended Hypsometric Tints (GeoTIFF, 32,400 x 16,200 pixels)
Gray Earth Light (GeoTIFF, 32,400 x 16,200 pixels)
500m MODIS Land Cover (GeoTIFF, 86,400 x 43,200 pixels)
Ocean Bottom (GeoTIFF, 21,600 x 10,800 pixels)
Gray Earth Dark (GeoTIFF, 32,400 x 16,200 pixels)
Natural Earth Volunteers—Thank You!
Rivers and lakes: Corwan Groux, Mary Edin, Alex Fries, and Heather Smith
Populated places: Leo Dillon, Kate Leroux, Brandon Plewe, and Zhaoxu Sui
Transportation: Zhaoxu Sui
Name translations + Wikidata: Imre Samu
Gray Earth; Daniel Huffman
Land cover: Rob Simmon
Last update: August 5, 2024