Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary

My husband bought this book because a friend had it and he liked it - at first I thought it was just another boring geography book, but you can seriously get lost in this book for hours. It's sort of like when you get trapped in Wikipedia, going from page to page on different topics that are linked together. We actually geek out and sit on the bed and read it, and it's very useful - with the catastrophic Japanese earth quake we have referred to this book numerous times, both to learn about the impact on Japan and to get an idea of where exactly our friends are on the west coast to see if they were "safe" from the tsumani warning (which was cautionary, thankfully). If you have any interest in history, geography, any liberal arts - get this book! It comes in handy when you least expect it.

Replaced an older edition I discarded when I moved. Has many more maps. Not so current that I can't research countries and territories that have changed names in the recent years

I have the original version, so when I saw the updated (twice!) version I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. It's fascinating to compare countries in both books side-by-side and see the changes over the last forty years....some countries have changed their names and boundaries and some were born from others that have since split and become independent. The price of $4.00 American dollars for such a treasure is unbelievable; I'd buy it again! Thanks again, Amazon!

If you only need a general resource for looking up countries, cities and such, this book will do just fine. If you need specific information about a continent or region, find a more detailed book dedicated to that area. In most cases the lat/long of places was fairly accurate but many of the things I needed to refer to needed a finer coordinate. It also will go out of date fairly qucikly with the fast changing political climates of some areas. Great for stable areas, well developed countries, large to medium cities but not very effective beyond that.

Its amazing as to the number of geographical areas defined ... especially useful for expaining cities or other areas having more than one name due to political and/or wartime occupations (e.g., German and Polish names for the same city which, in many cases, are completely different from each other).

This is a great reference book. I use it often, for both work and at home.The Britannica maps are accurate and very readable. Highly recommended.

I bought the April 2007 update a few years ago. It's good for the most part, including as complete as possible the 2000 Census info for the US.More recent geography is suspect, however, especially in the case of Montenegro: Serbia includes it as an independent country (as of May 2006), but the neighboring countries still call it "Serbia and Montenegro." And while there is a separate entry for Montenegro (both the former kingdom and the independent country), there is no separate map. Further, the Montenegro map under Serbia shows two capitals, only Podgorica is referenced elsewhere (under Montenegro and as a city, both as Montenegro's capital); Centinje appears nowhere else in the dictionary.I am hoping that with the new countries such as South Sudan, the more recent name changes and associations (Netherlands Antilles has disbanded), and the 2010 Census, there will soon be a another revision.

Given the constant flux of geographical politics, its most recent edition is not quite up-to-date, but is no doubt the best handy reference for a home library.

But, this is still a very relevant and useful tool for geographical information. I already had the soft cover back from 1997, but I could not pass up the opportunity to get the hardcover at such a great price!I have been hoping, for years, that there would be further editions, but I am still satisfied that this great dictionary is still available!

ペーパーバックを読んでいるとき、知らない地名が出てきた。こんなときに役に立つのがこの本です。地名の読み方や地理の周辺知識が詰まっていてとても便利です。ついついペーパーバックを忘れて没頭してしまうという欠点(？）もありますが・・・