Digital Chart of the World

The Digital Chart of the World (DCW) is an Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) product originally developed for the US Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) using DMA data. We used the DCW 1993 version at 1:1,000,000 scale. The DMA data sources are aeronautical charts, which emphasize landmarks important from flying altitudes. This explains why there is a separate aeronautical theme with all conceivable airports, yet why on some themes small islands and lakes are simply unnamed points. ESRI, in compiling the DCW, also eliminated some detail and made some assumptions for handling tiny polygons and edgematching. Also, note that the completeness of the thematic categories present in each layer will vary. Please read the layer descriptions (through links in the following table).