Product catalogue
Topographic Map Series 1:1 000 000
<b>International Map of the World (IMW) 1:1 000 000 Topographic Map, Australia Series</b>:
The International Map of the World (IMW), Australia series, is a small scale topographic map series, Australia's contribution to a common effort by many nations to map the world at this scale. Initially conceived for planning economic development, it is a useful general reference series. Many thematic maps are based on it including the 1: 1 000 000 World Aeronautical Charts (WAC), and the Land Use and Nature Conservation Reserves series. Conforming to international specifications, the Australia Series was completed by the Division of National Mapping (NATMAP) in 1978. Many towns, villages and outback homesteads are named and the maps show roads, railways, lakes, rivers and the larger nature conservation reserves. Relief - of both land and sea-bed - is shown by layer tints, spot heights and contours in metres.
The IMW (International Map of the World) are no longer maintained, and printed maps are no longer available. The Australian portion of the series consists of 49 maps. They were produced to an international specification using the R502 series at 1:250,000 scale as source material. Production commenced in 1926 and was completed in 1978. The maps were revised from time to time and the last reprint was undertaken in 2003. Each standard map sheet covers 4 degrees of latitude by 6 degrees of longitude and was produced using a Lambert Conformal Conic projection with 2 standard parallels. A new series based on the World Aeronautical Charts (WAC) series of maps was completed in early 2011 and is known as the 1:1 million General Reference Topographic Map Series.
<b>General Reference 1:1 000 000 Topographic Map Series</b>:
The General Reference 1:1 000 000 Topographic Map Series of Australia is a national cartographic collection created by Geoscience Australia consisting of 49 map sheets. It replaces older International Map of the World (IMW) sheets, providing large-scale regional coverage where 1 cm on the map equals 10 km on the ground. Each standard map covers an area of 6 degrees longitude by 4 degrees latitude or about 590 kilometres east to west and about 440 kilometres from north to south. These maps depict natural and constructed features including transport infrastructure (roads, railway airports), hydrography, contours, hypsometric and bathymetric layers, localities and some administrative boundaries, making this a useful general reference map. The updated digital and graphic general reference series was finished around 2008–2011, succeeding legacy World Aeronautical Chart (WAC) bases.
Features Depicted<ul><li>Natural Elements: Contours, hypsometric tints (elevation colouring), spot heights, and bathymetric layers/isolines for marine depths.</li><li>Infrastructure: Transport routes including major roads, railways, and airports.</li><li>Administrative Details: Hydrography (water bodies/rivers), populated localities, and select administrative boundaries</li></ul>
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 1975-06-30
- Date (Publication)
- 2026-09-17T04:52:03.203Z
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/151278
- Cited responsible party
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Publisher Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Author Geoscience Australia
Internal Contact
- Purpose
-
The 1:1 million topographic maps are ideal for broad-scale planning, regional overview, and national context. Covering large areas with clear, concise detail, these maps are perfect for educators, researchers, strategists, and anyone needing a wide-angle view of Australia's geography.
- Status
- Completed
- Point of contact
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Carter, L.
Place and Communities Internal Contact Resource provider Place and Communities.
Internal Contact
- Spatial representation type
Spatial resolution
Equivalent scale
- Denominator
- 1000000
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
- Title
-
Product data repository: Various Formats
- Protocol
-
FILE:DATA-DIRECTORY
- Name of the resource
-
Data Store directory containing the digital product files
- Description
-
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
-
-
EARTH SCIENCES
-
- Keywords
-
-
Map
-
Topographic
-
1:1million
-
1:1,000,000
-
1:1000000
-
General reference
-
IMW_151278
-
GRM_151278
-
- Keywords
-
-
Published_External
-
Resource constraints
- Title
-
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
-
CC-BY
- Edition
-
4.0
- Addressee
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details User Any
- Use constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2012
Resource constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Classification system
-
Australian Government Security Classification System
Associated resource
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- OnLine resource
-
International Map of the World (IMW) 1:1 000 000 topographic map, Australia series
Use this link to view all catalogue records in this series
- OnLine resource
-
General Reference 1:1 000 000 topographic map series
Use this link to view all catalogue records in this series
- OnLine resource
-
Link to the 1:1 000 000 Scale visualisation dashboard
Link to the 1:1 000 000 Scale visualisation 'Dashboard'
- OnLine resource
-
Download 1:1 000 000 scale index
Download 1:1 000 000 scale index
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
Resource lineage
- Statement
-
<b>Coverage: </b>Whole of Australia covered with 49 maps (please refer to Status). National coverage first completed in 1975.
<b>Currency: </b> IMW 1971 to 1983. General Reference Topographic 2008-2011
<b>Coordinates: </b> Geographical
<b>Datum: </b> AGD66 (GDA94 compliant at this scale); AHD
<b>Projection: </b> Lambert Conformal Conic
<b>Status: </b> The IMW (International Map of the World) are no longer maintained, and printed maps are no longer available. A new series based on the World Aeronautical Charts (WAC) series of maps was completed in early 2011 and is known as the 1:1 million General Reference Topographic Map Series.
Metadata constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
-
urn:uuid/721acdc6-1929-4c54-a8a7-d423084b1a41
- Title
-
GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Owner Carter, L.
Place and Communities Internal Contact Point of contact Carter, L.
Place and Communities Internal Contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Collection
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia Products Catalogue (eCat) – Short identifier for metadata record.
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/151278
- Metadata linkage
-
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/api/records/721acdc6-1929-4c54-a8a7-d423084b1a41
- Date info (Creation)
- 2026-09-18T00:31:26.944Z
- Date info (Creation)
- 2026-09-17T04:52:27.361Z
- Date info (Creation)
- 2026-07-07T06:25:20.1Z
- Date info (Revision)
- 2026-09-18T00:32:09.386Z
Metadata standard
- Title
-
AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
-
ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
-
ISO 19115-3
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
-
Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551