Geomapping Problems, Part 2: Google Earth

I’ve got beef with Nasa World Wind, but I’m even more frustrated by Google Earth. Why? It’s bent to inane political correctness.

First: Afghanistan. Of all the political federations, only Afghanistan has the honor of having each province divided by thick white lines on Google Earth. These can’t be turned off without turning off all borders (by comparison, the US and Canada are divided by thin blue lines—Australia and other federations are not divided). Google wants to say Afghanistan is a Balkanized mess, in-line with current conventional wisdom of the wise Afghanistan hands who have read at least one newspaper article on the subject. Look for Iraq to be next.

Second: The Sea of Japan. The map was first called “Sea of Japan” until (who else) angry Koreans petitioned the company, the name changes to “Japan Sea (East Sea)” and then “East Sea (Sea of Japan).” North and South Korea are the only countries that do not call it “Sea of Japan.” After a few weeks, Google took the position that the body of water was two seas—the East Sea and Sea of Japan.

Of course, when you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one, which brings us to…

Three: Taiwan. The software angered Taiwan because the island was called a province of Mainland China. So Google changed the clasification—and pissed off the People’s Republic of China.