Where to get non-english maps?

August 23, 2008 12:26 PM

Does anyone know of a website (or heck, even a brick and mortar store in the SF Bay Area) where I (in the US) can purchase wall maps of either the world or other countries with place names and labels in their native language and not English?

I was recently traveling outside of the States and saw a Michelin world wall map in Germany (with the German names for all countries, oceans, Kanada instead of Canada, etc.), and a political wall map of Turkey (in Turkish). I like maps and think maps of places I have been in their original language would be cool as decoration. However, despite much Google, I cannot seem to find maps similar to what I am looking for available for purchase in anything but English.

The exact same Michelin map I saw in Germany is available on many websites, but in English. I did find some German language fold out maps of Germany on Amazon.de, but that's not what I'm looking for.

Any ideas? Maybe someone here has wanted the same thing? Thanks!

posted by Stryke11 to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Book Passage has a pretty extensive map and guidebook selection - give them a call. Their flagship store is in Corte Madera, and their website is here.
posted by mdonley at 12:33 PM on August 23, 2008

Try the Rand McNalley map store on Market St in downtown SF or Get Lost on Market between Valencia and Guerrero.
posted by gingerbeer at 1:31 PM on August 23, 2008

I posted that without checking first. The Rand McNally store is closed, alas (and has been for sometime. i feel very unobservant). Their website is here.

Get Lost Books.
posted by gingerbeer at 4:45 PM on August 23, 2008

Here's a world map in Japanese from Ichiban Kan. There's a map of just Japan there too. There's a brick-and-mortar store in San Mateo, but it appears that you can buy the map online for $1.50.
posted by purpleclover at 10:15 PM on August 23, 2008

Response by poster: Wow, that Japan map looks cool! Also, I emailed Book Passage and Get Lost to see if they can help. Thanks to everyone who has helped!
posted by Stryke11 at 9:39 AM on August 24, 2008

Damn I should never go out of town and not check Mefi for more than 24 hours - everyone beats me to my answers! Book Passage is so great. I would imagine that you would find the maps in the "annex" store (same complex, different building).
posted by radioamy at 8:38 PM on August 25, 2008

Two suggestions that might be worthwhile:

- Searching on the phrase 'german wall map', I get several suggestions. MyMapMan.com is first, with wall maps available in German, Spanish, Italian, and several other languages---these however are educational editions, suitable for use in a classroom, and as such are (a) printed on more-durable materials than you're likely to need for a wall poster, and (b) rather spendy---a 38" x 53" physical/political map of Germany in German, laminated & with wooden rods is $145. Some maps are available on linen and/or with a spring-loaded roller system, but those tend to be more expensive.
- Similarly, searching 'ukrainian wall map' turns up this site selling an assortment of folded and sheet maps of Ukraine, most of them in Ukrainian or Russian. (Also interesting, at least to me, is the topographic maps of Ukraine produced by the Soviet military. Starting at only $1900 for the set...!)

- Search combining 'wall map' with a phrase in the language you'd like maps in. For example, searching 'wall map weltkarte' turns up the Dutch bookseller Geografische boekhandel Jacob van Wijngaarden, which has an entire section of wallmaps. Unfortunately, they don't list prices on their website---if you want prices, you have to create an account, and they'll send you a message with prices & availability.
- Similarly, searching 'wall map polska' turns up a site selling wall-hangable copies of a Polish map of 1939 Poland....
posted by FlyingMonkey at 1:42 PM on September 6, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks FlyingMonkey for the suggestions. I will definitely try them!
posted by Stryke11 at 6:22 PM on September 6, 2008