The Penguin State of the World Atlas: Eighth Edition

Dan Smith's State of the World Atlas has been an excellent reference for a wide variety of social, economic and environmental issues. Great for anyone who want a quick review of such issues with a geographical context. Colorful maps and graphics make this a more approachable tool. Highly recommended!

This book is a must for all Geography students. The contents are well organized and allow for easy comparison of related topics. I use it in my class constantly and is a required text.

This is the latest edition of an atlas that's been out for awhile. With colorful world maps and all sorts of fascinating graphs and charts this book unlocks cultural statistics--from quality of life to where in the world U.S. troops are to who has the most satellites in space. My middle school students love this atlas and will (no kidding!) pick it up and browse through it on their own. I've bought a classroom set and it was money very well spent. If you cover geography, or anything having to do with the world in middle school or high school check out this book. Mr. Smith and publishers: We need an atlas like this one that covers just the USA.

This book, together with The State of War and Peace, is a desktop classic that would make an outstanding gift for any student of any age, and for any adult concerned about the state of the world we are leaving to our children. This is much more than a book of graphic generalizations; as a researcher myself I especially appreciate the specific identification of the sources that were consulted, and the summaries of each of the major political-legal, socio-economic, techno-demographic, ideo-cultural, and natural-geographic conditions threatening the stability of the "Whole Earth". I dare to think this book should be required reading for our elected representatives as well as our military commanders charged with "shaping" their regional environments.

Good information on global environmental issues was why I consulted this book. I also wanted to see if was suitable as an inexpensive book for passing to contacts in other governments. It hit the spot on both counts.For those wishing an overview of global environmental issues, there are good maps (with helpful commentaries at the back)on Biodiversity, Forests, Global Warming, Energy, Food, Traffic and Cities ( these, working back from the end are the maps in the final section "Sustaining the World"). But other sections have maps with material important for environmental issues: Health Risks, Tourism and Life Expectancy ( see the inset map on access to safe drinking water p 17). There is a good index.