CARTOGRAPHY

CENTER
Tracing its roots to October 1941, CIA’s Cartography Center has a long, proud
history of service to the Intelligence Community (IC) and continues to respond to a
variety of finished intelligence map requirements. The mission of the Cartography
Center is to provide a full range of maps, geographic analysis, and research in
support of the Agency, the White House, senior policymakers, and the IC at large.
Its chief objectives are to analyze geospatial information, extract intelligence-related
geodata, and present the information visually in creative and effective ways for
maximum understanding by intelligence consumers. A B

On 11 July 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the United

States’ first peacetime, nondepartmental intelligence organization, the Office
of the Coordinator of Information (COI), and authorized it to collect and
analyze all information and data relevant to national security. COI, headed
by William J. Donovan, reported directly to the President. Donovan recruited
the best and the brightest from universities, businesses, and law firms
focused on foreign affairs or with experience abroad. One of those recruited
as a map consultant was 26-year-old Arthur H. Robinson, a graduate student
C D
who had recently begun working on his Ph.D. in geography. He started in
the Geographic Division of the COI’s Research and Analysis Branch on
16 October 1941 and shortly thereafter produced its first map and was
asked to start the Cartography Section. This marked the inception of CIA’s
present-day Cartography Center.

After the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, COI expanded rapidly
and its maps began to circulate widely. Robinson was joined by geographer
Robert Voskuil, and the two focused on recruiting staff, procuring equipment, and
developing training procedures. By 1 February 1942, the Cartography Section was E F

fully operational, with Robinson serving as its chief. The Map Information Section
was added to procure commercial maps, for use by cartographers and
to reproduce for policymakers.

With wartime needs requiring its expansion, COI grew from an office
into America’s first intelligence agency and was replaced by the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS) on 13 June 1942. To satisfy a dramatic increase in
the demand for customized thematic maps for the President, Joint Chiefs of
Staff (JCS), Joint Army Navy Intelligence Studies (JANIS), Board of Economic
G H
Warfare, and COI, the Cartography Section added 28 geographers by the
end of 1942. At that time, there were no cartographers as we know them
today—so Robinson recruited geographers with an interest in mapping,
and they learned on the job. Robinson developed a unique system of map
production to operate in the field of intelligence, and it evolved rapidly to
improve map quality and production efficiency.

In March 1943, the Topographic Models Section was added, and the three
sections—Cartography, Map Information, and Topographic Models—formed the
new Map Division. Geographers and cartographers amassed what would be the
largest collection of maps in the world and produced strategic maps and 3D plaster
terrain models in support of strategic studies and military operational plans for the
JCS, the Office of Naval Intelligence, OSS, and the War Department. The Map
Division was intimately involved in the planning strategy of the Allied invasion of
North Africa and Italy. It also assessed the economic and topographic conditions
in other areas vital to the conduct of the war, including in the Asia-Pacific theater.
The JCS called upon cartographers for much of their secret security work concerning
operations and valued cartographers for their support at the Allied conferences.
Serving as the premier source for strategic thematic maps and map
resources, the Cartography and Map Information Sections survived the
abolishment of OSS on 1 October 1945 and were transferred to the
Division of Geography and Cartography in the Department of State (DOS).
The Cartography Section would remain at DOS until 1 July 1947, when
it was transferred to the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), which President
Truman formed in January 1946. Shortly thereafter, CIG gained the status of
a full agency and became the Central Intelligence Agency on 18 September
1947. Serving a unique need with world-class products, Cartography
Center has withstood many reorganizations and name changes in the past
75 years and continues to provide timely and effective map services in
support of a variety of national security topics.
I J
K L
A) Arthur H. Robinson, founder of the Map Division. B) Highly
innovative for its time, the OSS Theater Map served as an index to a
collection of individual base map sheets that improved efficiency with
map ordering and production. C) Brunei OSS Theater Map base map
sheet. D) OSS Cartographers created twin 50-inch globes for President
Franklin D. Roosevelt (pictured) and Winston Churchill. E) President
Kennedy uses a Cartography Division–produced map during a
televised press conference on Communist Rebel Areas in Laos,
22 March, 1961. F) Cartographer scribing linework in the 1960s.
G) President Nixon uses a CIA map during a press conference, 1970.
H) DCI Bush uses CIA maps of Beirut and Lebanon to brief President
Ford, 1976. I) President Reagan uses a Cartography Center map
during a televised press conference regarding his strategy for dealing
with Latin American countries that threaten democracy in the region.
J) Vice President George H. W. Bush uses a Cartography Center map
during a televised press conference to show areas affected by drought
and famine, March 1985. K) General Colin Powell, former chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, uses a Cartography Center map during a
press conference regarding Operation Desert Storm, 1991.
L) President George W. Bush meets with Chief of Staff Andrew
Card Jr., National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and DCI
George Tenet at Camp David, the day after the 9/11 attacks.

For information on CIA cartography careers and internships please visit

https://www.cia.gov/careers/index.html
 1940s
In the early 1940s, map layers were drafted by hand using pen and ink on translucent acetate sheets mounted on large
Strathmore boards. They were drafted at larger sizes than needed for the final (typically at a 4:1 ratio) and printed at a reduced
size using photomechanical methods. Standard symbols and labels preprinted on adhesive-backed cellophane sheets called
“stick-up” were applied to maps for uniformity. During this decade, in support of the military’s efforts in World War II (WWII),
cartographers pioneered many map production and thematic design techniques, including the construction of 3D map models.
Cartographic support was key to the US war-planning strategy. In addition to the major events of WWII, during the 1940s,
cartographic production was primarily driven by postwar reconstruction, turmoil in the Middle East, and communist expansion.
 1950s
The 1950s witnessed improved efficiency in map compilation and construction processes. Map layers were drafted in pen and ink
on vinyl sheets for photomechanical reproduction, and type was handset using precast lead letters. Cartographers then learned
scribing techniques to produce high-quality linework for maps and adapted shaded relief techniques to better depict the nature of
the terrain on maps. As production capabilities improved to turnaround times of less than one day, a small group of cartographers
and graphic designers from the Cartography Division was placed in the Cartographic Support Section to work specifically
on current intelligence—daily analysis prepared for the President and other selected senior US officials. During the 1950s,
cartographic production was primarily driven by the Cold War, the Korean war, the French defeat in Vietnam, the Suez crisis, and
the rise of the Castro regime in Cuba.
 1960s
In 1965, the Director of Central Intelligence actively encouraged analysts to use visual arts to help explain complex problems.
The Vietnam war also generated an increase in demand for maps. In 1966, a large working group, using a borrowed digitizer,
compiled and digitized coastlines and international boundaries for the entire world—in a single weekend. This digital geographic
database, World Data Bank I (WDBI), contained more than 100,000 vertices that could be projected using the Cartographic
Automatic Mapping (CAM) program. This eliminated the need for hand scribing graticules and coastlines, drastically expediting
map production. During the 1960s, cartographic production was primarily driven by the continuation of the Bay of Pigs invasion,
the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Six-Day War, the Soviet expansion, US involvement in Vietnam, and the advent of
numerous African countries gaining independence.
 1970s
Automation efforts flourished in the 1970s. The development of World Data Bank II (WDBII) was heavily emphasized, and
more detailed data—including those for rivers, roads, railroads, administrative divisions, populated places, and attributes—
were added to the growing database. Electronic typesetting capability was added, and equipment was upgraded to allow
production of separation plates, vugraphs, and slides for publications and briefings. Improved efficiency led to an increase in
research projects, particularly in atlases and street guides. During the 1970s, cartographic production was primarily driven
by the Vietnam war, President Nixon’s visit to China, the Arab oil embargo, the Camp David accords, the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, and the Islamic Revolution and the seizure of US Embassy officers in Tehran in November of 1979.
 1980s
In the 1980s, CIA’s analytical corps expanded quickly, and the demand for maps used in briefing materials and publications
increased dramatically, with more complex requests and shortened time frames. During this decade, cartography made a
technological transition—from a time-intensive manual system to a computer-automated system that allowed quicker turnaround
times and more innovative ways of presenting intelligence. Cartographers received Intergraph interactive color workstations to
design and construct digital 2D maps and 3D terrain models. A high-speed, photoscribing plotting process was added, and
a modest research program was reinstated. During the 1980s, cartographic production was primarily driven by the Falklands
War, the Iran-Iraq war, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, major acts of terror against US Marines and citizens, and US
troop action in Grenada and Panama.
 1990s
In the 1990s, the Cartography Center—with the help of advancing computer technology—provided increasingly complex
products, such as 3D terrain perspectives and animation, to support finished intelligence requirements. Dependence on film
decreased as digital files could be printed directly, and as maps were disseminated more widely, customer demand grew
rapidly. Improved computer graphics capabilities spurred greater sophistication and effectiveness in the use of color, symbology,
and design to convey intelligence stories, while the rise of geodata sources and Geographic Information Systems technology led
to advancements in data classification, manipulation, and rendering. During the 1990s, cartographic production was primarily
driven by major humanitarian crises in Africa and Central America, the proliferation of WMDs, the rise of narcotics trafficking,
the Middle East Peace Process, the Persian Gulf war, the breakup of the Communist Bloc, and US peacekeeping operations in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 2000 -10s
With the new millennium, Cartography Center found itself at the center of a digital revolution, and modernized its workflow and
technology toward electronic dissemination, including on web and mobile platforms. For the most part, it has transitioned to the
use of commercially available, off-the-shelf software and to scientific workstations, which handle software and large amounts of
data more efficiently. As Agency products continued to exploit technological breakthroughs, cartographers constantly adapted
workflow to make the best use of available software and new technologies for creating and disseminating products. During these
decades, cartographic production was primarily driven by natural disasters and pandemics resulting in humanitarian crises;
turmoil in Africa, the Middle East, and the former Yugoslavia; nuclear developments in Iran and North Korea; and the continued
spread of terrorism (especially the 9/11 attacks, and the US operations that followed) and the self-proclaimed Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant.

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MOROCCO

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WESTERN LIBYA EGYPT
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344 NIGER CHAD
454 ERITREA
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THE SUDAN 96
1 4,797
GAMBIA
GUINEA- 6 DJIBOUTI
BISSAU GUINEA BURK.
64 NIGERIA 5 7
964 ETHIOPIA
SIERRA CÔTE 1
LEONE D’IVOIRE 4 SOUTH SUDAN 628
CAMER. CEN. 7,054
465 GHANA BENIN 1,132 AFR. REP.
LIBERIA 1,201 1,854
124 TOGO 8 14
KENYA SOMALIA
EQUA. 10 DEM. REP. 37 26
UG. 81
39,170 GUI. 31 27,198
1 OF THE 20 3,254
8 CONGO 12
REP. OF 16
RW. 105,629
GABON THE 4 107
CONGO 9 4,754 28
BURU. 5 264
38,177
TANZANIA
224
29 34

A N GOLA
MAL.
1,619 ZAMBIA
(U) 1,083 85 COMOROS
20,379 18
1,619 Elephant population estimatea
51
(as of 2013) 27
29 42 MOZAMBIQUE MADAGASCAR
128,991 ZIMBABWE
NAMIBIA 21,093
Elephant range 20,526
(as of 2012) BOTSWANA
20
SWAZILAND
2011 CITES PIKE indexb 35
(cause of mortality) SOUTH
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51,141
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Boundary representation is
0 500 Kilometers Oilfield not necessarily authoritative.
(U) Batman
Ataturk
Oil pipeline Barajı Tigris
EU member state in euro zone 0 500 Miles
Planned oil pipeline
EU member state not in euro zone
Gasfield Shaykh Sa‘id-
Tall
Euphrates

Zurabah-
External Schengen area bordera Babasi ‘Adas Dayrik (Derik)
Area
of map
NATO Ally
Gas pipeline
Under construction
T u r k e y Kahtaniyah Lelac
Qaratshuk
Hamzah
Equator Al Qāmishlī Qutba Suwaydiyah
Wuday
Rumaylan
Planned gas pipeline Matlutah Khirbah
Tall Gharab
Kilis Baradah Na‘ur ‘Ulayyan
INDIAN Filfayl
OCEAN Refinery (operational) Ash Shaykh Mansur Al Tigris
ICELAND Al ¸Hasakah Hawl
Refinery (under construction) Ash Shaykh Sulayman
Kīsīk Kūprī
Juraybah Mosul
Gas-processing plant Aleppo Tishrin
Male Buhayrat Salihiyah
Hasw
Ghouna
Tanker terminal al Asad
Al Jubaysah Gbeibe
Ar Raqqah
Euphra
Mediterranean tes
FI N L AN D Marqadah

SWEDEN
Sea Sufayyah
‘Ammalah
Wadi
Tall Dbissane ‘Ubayd
Asfar
Derro Iraq
Nabaj
Turab
Latakia Area of
O ro n

MALDIVES NORWAY (oil products) Mu¸hradah

Wahhab
Fahdah inset map
ESTONIA
tes

Al
Dayla’ Kadir
Bāniyās Abu Al Akram
(crude/oil products) ¸Hamāh Zhour Ghawr Tuwaynan
Ar
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LATVIA Ţarţūs ¸Himş Bilas Ash Shaer Doubayat
0 50 100 Kilometers Hulhule (heavy crude)
Arak (Zubayyat)
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0 50 100 Miles
Island UNITED Tadmur Al Ma¸haţţ
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IREL A N D KINGDOM storage (Sharifah)
only
NETH. Hadithah
Lebanon
Ibrahim Nasir
POLAND Beirut
International
BEL. GERMANY 0 10 20 Kilometers

Airport Al Dayr At At Tallah 0 10 20 Miles

‘Adrā Kharratah Al az Tabiyah Al Isba
Mahash Zawr Ghawari
CZECH REP. SLOV. Jafrah Yimken
Al An Jazziyah Rasin
LUX. Damascus Mazraa Nishan
Al
‘Ayya Sijan
LIECH. Shahil
Golan
AUSTRIA HUNGARY Heights Iraq Ash Thayyim
‘Umar North Sijan South
FRANCE SWITZ. ROMANIA (Israeli
occupied)
Shula
‘Umar
Jarnof
Azraq
SLO. Saban Maqta’
CRO.
Al Mayadin Qahar Tayyani
Malih Galban
SAN MARINO Barghuth
Israel
BULGARIA Dar‘ā Al Tanak
River

Ashara Abu
Jido Hardan
Shdeha
Male P O RTUGAL
ANDORRA MONACO VATICAN CITY Arab Gas
Yunus
Jordan

Al Ward
ALB. Pipeline Hajin Al
S PA I N ITALY TURKEY We s t Jordan Eu
ph
Kishmah
Amman
Banka
ra
tes

Ahmar Abu
Saudi Al Ma¸haţţ Kamal
GREECE Dead a
Hamar
Israeli occupied with current status subject Arabia ath Thānīyah Ratqah
Sea to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Akash
Agreement; permanent
Iraq
0 50 100 Kilometers (G00335)
status to be determined
CYPRUS through further negotiation. 0 50 100 Miles 794830AI (G00046) 6-11