CIA World Factbook Photos, 10: Antartica, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador

Two continents are covered in this post of public domain photos from the CIA World Factbook: Antarctica and South America. The Factbook now has few photos of the nations of South America, but check back with it periodically because more photos are promised in the coming year.

LeMaire Channel between Booth Island and the Antarctic Peninsula

Argentine Antarctic research station

The continent of South America

 

Cape Horn, Chile, the southernmost point of South America

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains of Peru

Trinidade Beach, Paraty, Brazil

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Guayaquil, Ecuador

You shouldn’t have difficulty finding Argentina, Chile, and Peru on the South America map, but Ecuador is another matter. Here’s a map showing its location on the continent. Above it is Columbia; below, Peru.

CIA World Factbook Photos, 9: Australia and New Zealand

We must be more than half way around the world by now on the public domain photos from the CIA World Factbook tour; at least we can check off another continent tonight, as we stop by Australia and New Zealand.

Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia

Opera House, Circular Quay, and Central Business District in Sydney, Australia

Australia’s capital city of Canberra on Lake Burley Griffin

William Creek, somewhere in the Outback, Australia

Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Mount Cook (Aoraki), Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Hall Arm of Doubtful Sound, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand

CIA World Factbook Photos, 8: American Samoa, French Polynesia, Guam, Fiji

On a cold winter’s night we head to the South Seas for more public domain photos from the CIA World Factbook, starting with French Polynesia. To remind you, to download these photos, start with the homepage (see link above) and use the dropdown menu “Select a Country or Location,” and that will take you to that country’s page for maps, flags, photos (in some cases) and a lot of information. 

Bora Bora, French Polynesia 

Downtown Bora Bora 

Moorea, French Polynesia 

 

Pago Pago, American Samoa 

 

Kuata, Yasawa Islands Group, Fiji 

 

Two Lovers’ Point, Guam 

Below: Map of Oceania, and small maps in which squares denote relative locations of the four countries in this post. The maps, like the images are in the public domain and courtesy of the CIA World Factbook. 

 

 

Clockwise: Locations of American Samoa, Guam, French Polynesia, and Fiji 

The flag of French Polynesia

 

 

 

 

 

CIA World Factbook Photos, 7: Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, South Korea, Japan

Incense coils, Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong

With this lovely picture of what must be a most fragrant temple, we begin our last stop in the Asian stretch of the public domain pictures of the world series taken from the nations’ pages in the CIA World Factbook.

Hong Kong

Leal Senado (Loyal Senate) building [right], Senate Square, Macau

Macau is. like Hong Kong,  a “special administrative region of China.” The CIA Factbook explains:

Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China on 20 December 1999. In this agreement, China promised that, under its “one country, two systems” formula, China’s socialist economic system would not be practiced in Macau, and that Macau would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.

Location of Macau is marked with a dot on the regional map.

The Chocolate Hills: A few of the nearly 1,300 cone-shaped hills found in a 50 square kilometer area near Bohol, Philippines

The “Bridge of No Return” in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea used for prisoner exchanges when Korean War ended.

Gyeongbokgung royal palace, Seoul, South Korea

Mount Fuji, Japan

Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge, Tokyo, Japan

CIA World Factbook Photos, 6: Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia

Next stop: Southeast Asia for some highlights of the public domain images available on the country pages in the CIA World Factbook.

The temple Wat Xieng Thong, Louangphrabang, Laos

The staircase of Phou Si is guarded by nagas (serpent deities), Louangphrabang, Laos.

That Dam stupa (“the black stupa”), Vientiane, Laos

The Burma Railway bridge spanning Khwae Yai River, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, the subject of “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”

Standing Buddha, Wat (Temple) Ubtgarawugan, Bangkok, Thailand                      at the Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok boats

Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia

Tree roots, Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia

Fishing the freshwater lake of  Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Vietnam

South China Sea coastline, Vinh Moc, Vietnam

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Sea Temple of Pura Luhur, Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia

CIA World Factbook Photos, 5: India, Nepal, Tibet, China

This time it’s out of Africa and into Asia on the around the world tour of public domain photos from the CIA World Factbook.

Note that while my title lists Tibet along with three other nations, it isn’t recognized as such in the Factbook. If you want to download the picture of Namco Lake near Lhasa from the Factbook site, you’ll find it in the collection of photos from China.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

The Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, believed to be where the enlightened Buddha first preached

River Ganges, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Prayer flags on the Swayambhunath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

Namco Lake, Tibet

Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang, Yunnan, China

Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

CIA World Factbook Photos, 4: Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya

The tour of the photos on the country pages of the CIA World Factbook continues in this post with ones from African nations, and so we’ll start with a regional map, then work our way counter clockwise, starting with Libya:

Minaret seen through the 2nd century A.D. Arch of Marcus Aurelius, Tripoli, Libya

Medina or old city quarter, Tripoli, Libya

Roman theater at Sabratha, Libya

Algiers, Algeria

The oasis village of Beni Abbes, Algeria.

The oasis village of Taghit in the Sahara, Algeria

Sahara Dunes, Algeria

The Hassan Tower and remains of a mosque next to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

Mausoleum of Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

Lake Nyos, Cameroon

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke that Thunders) [Victoria Falls], Zimbabwe

Gorge carved by Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke that Thunders) [Victoria Falls], Zambia

People’s Palace, Stone Town, Tanzania

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Rwanda hillside.

Frame for a rondavel (house), Uganda

Acacia trees in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

CIA World Factbook Photos, 3: Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan

Continuing with this series of public domain photos from the CIA World Factbook, this post moves into the Middle East. There are no photos on the country pages at the Factbook website for Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, and so there are none here.

Water towers, Kuwait.

Restored dhow (Arab sailing vessel) on display in Kuwait City.

The design of the Burj-al-Arab Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emiratres, is said to be based on the dhow’s sails.

Walls of the historic Bahrain Fortress

The Tree of Life, Bahrain, has survived for hundreds of years in the middle of the desert.

Jerusalem, Israel, at night viewed from the Mount of Olives.

Petra, Jordan

The Street of Facades in Petra, Jordan, is made up of 44 tombs.

Wadi Rum, the largest wadi or valley in Jordan.

Dead Sea, Jordan

Hookah (above) and head-dress (below) shops in Amman, Jordan

The Sinai Monastery of St. Catherine’s, Egypt

Feluccas (sailing boats) on the River Nile, Egypt.

The Sphinx and the Pyramid of Khafre at Giza, Egypt.

The Pyramid of Menkaure at Giza, Egypt. Smaller ones are his wives’.

Stair-step construction shown on corner of the Khafre pyramid. The Great Pyramid of Khufu appears in the distance. Giza Plateau, outside Cairo, Egypt.

The Pyramids of Khufu (left) and Khafre on the Giza Plateau, outside Cairo, Egypt.

Pyramids of the Kushite rulers at Meroe, Sudan

CIA World Factbook regional map of the Middle East

Maps  (left to right) showing the locations on the regional map above of Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Jordan

CIA World Factbook Photos, Part 2: Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan

The space once occupied by the “Large Buddha,” one of two 6th century statues demolished in 2001 by the Taliban in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.

Continuing viewing photos accompanying country pages in the CIA World Factbook, this post moves along to Afghanistan, Turkey.

I found one answer to my bafflement at why some countries have pictures and others don’t, which I mentioned last time. Reading the updates on the Factbook website home page, I learned that it only started providing photos in June, and the addition of pictures is continuing, albeit gradually. Something to bear in mind as you file away ideas on where to look for public domain images of places around the world.

All photos in this post courtesy of CIA World Factbook and taken from the country’s entry on the Factbook website.

View of surrounding farmlands from within the caves at the “Large Buddha” in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.

Turquoise lake in Band-e-Amir, a national park in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.

Bamyan lakes region, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.

The “Red City,” Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, named for the red clay used to construct the buildings,  preserved  by the arid climate.

Reaching heights of 130 feet, these rock formations, nicknamed “fairy chimneys,” were formed by volcanic eruptions and sculpted by wind and rain erosion. Cappadocia region, Turkey.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque), Istanbul, Turkey

The Roman Theater in Ephesus, Turkey.

The Hunza Valley, Pakistan

CIA World Factbook Photos, Part 1: Greece, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia

As noted in the last post, there is a page for each country in the CIA World Factbook. All have maps and and cover the same categories of facts. Additionally, there are a handful of photographs on some nations’ pages.

What is good about these is this statement that you find accompanying each thumbnail photo you click on:

Factbook photos – obtained from a wide variety of sources – are in the public domain and are copyright free.

But there are several odd things about these photos. The first is the absence of any reason why some countries have them and some don’t. For example, there are 15 photos of Jordan, and none of Iran or Iraq, 10 of Libya and none of Ethiopia, 11 each of Albania and Croatia, and none of Ukraine, Romania, or Bulgaria. The other is that by and large, these are tourist brochure shots: pyramids in Egypt, lions in Kenya.

But they are in the public domain, and it can be hard to find public domain photos of places outside the US since the understanding that photos taken by Federal employees on the job belong to the public is not an opinion globally shared.

So let’s start our world tour by meandering through Central Europe and the Balkans.

GREECE

Santorini, an island 120 miles southeast of mainland Greece.

14th century Rousanou Monastery, Meteora region, Greece

Poros, Greece

Parthenon, Athens, Greece

ALBANIA, CROATIA, SLOVENIA, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA

The central tower of Petrela Castle outside Tirana, Albania, was erected around 500 A.D.

Tirana, Albania, and Mount Dajti, Dinaric Range

Looking down on Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, a walled port city on the Adriatic Sea.

Predjama Castle, Slovenia, is built into a huge cave

Slovenia: Church of the Assumption and Bled Castle on Bled Island, and the Julian Alps.

The Danube River as seen from Buda; across the river in Pest is the Parliament Building. Buda and Pest united together are Budapest, Hungary.

Fortress outside Eger, Hungary

Bratislava Castle, Bratislava, Slovakia

Tatra mountains seen from rural Slovakia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slovakia

Slovenia