Data themes are available in three levels of detail. For each scale, themes are listed on Cultural, Physical, and Raster category pages.

Stay up to date! Know when a new version of Natural Earth is released by subscribing to our announcement list.

Overwhelmed? The Natural Earth quick start kit (165 mb) provides a small sample of Natural Earth themes
styled in an ArcMap .MXD document and in a QGIS document. Download all vector themes as 

Natural Earth is the creation of many volunteers and is supported by NACIS. It is free for use in any type of project. Full Terms of Use »

Large scale data, 1:10m

The most detailed. Suitable for making zoomed-in maps of countries and regions. Show the world on a large wall poster.

1:10,000,000
1″ = 158 miles
1 cm = 100 km

Medium scale data, 1:50m

Suitable for making zoomed-out maps of countries and regions. Show the world on a tabloid size page.

1:50,000,000
1″ = 790 miles
1 cm = 500 km

Small scale data, 1:110m

Suitable for schematic maps of the world on a postcard or as a small locator globe.

1:110,000,000
1″ = 1,736 miles
1 cm = 1,100 km