Gilbert H. Grosvenor, National Geographic magazine’s founding editor, is credited with saying: A map is the greatest of all epic poems. Its lines and colors show the realization of great dreams.

Historically, there have been four oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. On Feb. 9, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced the Gulf of Mexico had officially been changed to ...

8 min read This story appears in the September 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine. The maps here show the world as it is now, with only one difference: All the ice on land has melted and ...

What’s in a name change, after all? The water bordered by the Southern United States, Mexico and Cuba will be critical to shipping lanes and vacationers whether it’s called the Gulf of Mexico, as it ...

Imagine unfolding a map that doesn’t just show you where to go—but why it matters. This map is stitched together not by algorithms or travel influencers, but by the people who live, breathe, and love ...