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| United Nations Cartographic Section | |
|---|---|
| Name | United Nations Cartographic Section |
| Formation | 1946 |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Parent organization | United Nations |
| Website | UN Cartographic Section |
United Nations Cartographic Section The Cartographic Section of the United Nations provides authoritative map production, geospatial support, and cartographic services to the United Nations, its Security Council, General Assembly, and specialized agencies such as the UNDP, UNEP, WHO, and UNHCR. It supports peacekeeping missions like UNIFIL, UNMISS, and MINUSTAH by producing maps, atlases, and digital geospatial data for operations involving actors such as the NATO, African Union, and European Union. The Section interacts with member states including United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russian Federation and liaises with organizations like the International Cartographic Association, World Meteorological Organization, International Hydrographic Organization, UNOOSA, and UNITAR.
Established in the aftermath of World War II, the Cartographic Section traces roots to early mapping efforts that supported the founding United Nations Conference on International Organization and the drafting of the United Nations Charter. During the Cold War era the Section produced operational maps used alongside intelligence products from agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, MI6, and the KGB for diplomatic and humanitarian planning for crises like the Suez Crisis, Korean War, and Congo Crisis (1960–1965). In the 1970s and 1980s it expanded collections including thematic atlases referencing works by cartographers connected to institutions like the Royal Geographical Society, National Geographic Society, and Smithsonian Institution. In the post-Cold War period it adapted to digital transitions influenced by projects at USGS, ESA, and NASA and supported operations during events such as the Gulf War, Kosovo War, Rwandan Genocide, and the creation of East Timor independence mapping. Recent history includes contributions to climate assessments by IPCC and humanitarian responses coordinated with ICRC, MSF, and WFP.
The Section operates within the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management and reports to the Secretariat supporting organs such as the United Nations Secretariat, OCHA, DPO, and DPPA. Core functions include cartographic production for meetings at UN Headquarters on Manhattan, provision of map support for delegations from member states like Brazil, India, Japan, and Germany, and maintenance of geospatial repositories aligned with standards from ISO and the OGC. It manages collections of historical maps including holdings related to explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook, and Marco Polo and liaises with archival institutions like the United Nations Archives, British Library, Library of Congress, and Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Products include print and digital maps, thematic atlases, topographic charts, nautical overlays in consultation with the IMO and IHO, electoral boundary maps for missions working with ICC observers, and cartographic briefs supporting sanctions committees like the 1267 Committee. Services extend to georeferencing, cartographic editing, map symbology consistent with conventions used by United Nations Geographic Information Working Group, creation of maps for World Conferences such as Rio Earth Summit and COP, and production of situation maps during disasters like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, 2010 Haiti earthquake, and 2015 Nepal earthquake.
The Section adheres to cartographic and geospatial standards influenced by the ISO 19115, OGC specifications, and guidance from UNGEGN. It employs projection systems such as UTM and relates to datum references used by WGS 84 and historical datums influential in colonial-era mapping from powers like Ottoman Empire, British Empire, French Third Republic, and Spanish Empire. Methodologies include remote sensing workflows drawing on data from Landsat, Sentinel, Terra, and airborne lidar surveys used by agencies including USGS and NASA.
The Section partners with multilateral entities such as World Bank, IMF, FAO, and UNESCO and cooperates with regional bodies like the African Union, OAS, ASEAN, and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It engages academic institutions including Columbia University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, MIT, University of Tokyo, and Peking University and works with commercial geospatial firms like Esri, satellite operators such as Maxar, and open-data initiatives exemplified by OpenStreetMap. Humanitarian collaboration includes partners like IFRC, USAID, DFID (now Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office), and NGOs such as CARE International.
Technological adoption has spanned analog cartography to digital GIS suites from vendors such as Esri ArcGIS, open-source tools like QGIS, cloud platforms including AWS and GCP, and visualization libraries used in projects inspired by CartoDB and Leaflet. The Section exploits satellite imagery from Copernicus Programme, synthetic aperture radar from missions like RADARSAT, and geospatial analysis methods paralleling research at ESO and JPL. It pilots machine learning approaches for feature extraction reflecting studies at Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of California, Berkeley.
Notable outputs include the UN blue-line and mission maps for mandates such as UNTSO and UNDOF, production of the UN geospatial atlas used in briefs for Security Council Resolution 242, support for peace processes in Cyprus, Western Sahara, and Colombia, and cartographic assistance during referendums including 1999 East Timorese independence referendum and 2011 South Sudanese independence referendum. It contributed mapping to global assessments like Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, disaster response coordination for Hurricane Katrina, and visualization products used in reports by Secretary-General of the United Nations and specialized studies by United Nations Development Programme.