The IBGE inaugurates today (08/24) a map portal developed in order to facilitate the access and viewing, on the Internet, of more than 20 thousand maps produced by the Institute. In the portal, you can find the Atlases published by the IBGE, cartographic bases, topographic sheets, world maps, as well as the maps of Brazil, its Major Regions and its Municipalities. There are also thematic maps on the fields of natural resources, society and economy, and territory. The portal also presents satellite images, aerial photographs of the territory, information about geodetic positioning, and much more. The Map Portal can be accessed on http://portaldemapas.ibge.gov.br.

The portal replaces the previous map channel and brings many new features. With a completely new interface, it allows for more interaction and enhances its functionalities. The map channel, however, will still be available for the time being so that users can adapt to the new interface. 

By accessing the Map Portal, users will be able to view files, to save maps for later research, to download, classify and even share selected maps. The Portal also allows users to find maps by subject through keyword search or classification by topic, publication or file format. A tutorial video with navigation guidelines is available too.   

One of the new functionalities is the quick view, making it possible for users to see any maps or images without having to download them. That includes, besides PDF and JPG files, specific formats used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), as KMZ, shapefiles and ArcGis services. The search can also be made through thumbnails - which makes it possible for users to easily find maps of known patterns. 

Finally, the Map Portal has also a recommendation system. When users select a certain map, the Portal shows them similar ones as content-related, including maps from other publications, with other formats or complementary information.