Unlike the USA, which has been a well-established federation on roughly the same geographic map over a century, EU is still a collection of states in an area where ethnic diversities, racial differences, ideology and economic antagonism have changed the map several times.

FORBES: EU: A Collection of Capricious Brides

Like many cities, Greenwich has created a geographic information system - a map that shows all the hidden bones and arteries of modern civilization: water mains, storm sewers, utility lines.

NPR: Security Officials Seek to Block Some Online Maps

NAVTEQ, one of the major map database companies, has more than 1, 100 of what it calls "geographic analysts" around the world, actually driving the roads to verify or correct the database.

CNN: Why your trusty GPS sometimes fails you

Much like Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap is a collaborative, crowdsourced and global project of over 650, 000 contributors dedicated to revolutionizing digital maps by creating a free, editable and interactive map of the world using data from satellites, GPS logs, local knowledge, and other sources of geographic information.

ENGADGET: Skobbler brings maps to Nook Tablet, Color with ForeverMap 2