Someday we will describe the whole world

It so happens that we live on the same planet. Trifle, but, frankly, nice.
And, along with us, crowds of people still live on the poor ball.
The description of their habitats and is engaged in the project Wikimapia.
And as long as other people cry for the lost “classics,” let's look at the cause of their tears — on the beta of Wikimepia (which is already not beta for two months) and, perhaps, let us describe the whole world.

WikiMapia is a commercial project that combines Google Maps information with wiki technology. Founded by Alexander Koryakin and Evgeny Saveliev on May 24, 2006. Its stated goal is to describe the geographical features of the entire planet Earth ( wiki )

On August 16, 2006, users entered the millionth mark in the WikiMapia database.
On October 2, 2006, the number of notes exceeded 1.6 million.
On November 22, 2006, the number of notes exceeded two million.
March 8, 2007 was crossed the line of three million marks.
On May 6, 2009, the number of marks reached ten million.
June 25 - castling of "beta" and "classic" wikimepia
August 25 - the project is still developing
')
For three years, the map was an ordinary cartographic project (with unusual attendance, activity and content), but the interface was practically standard - a Google map, with squares on it.
Sometimes the squares could clarify the polygonal frame.
Then, for some reason, it became mandatory.
Well, not so long ago, the squares have disappeared .

It took almost a year for developers to implement the Wikimapia overlay layer — from now on, the contours of objects are constantly visible on the map, as well as roads, rivers, seas ... and gas stations :)
Even before the official release, users could go to the beta section and start creating there. We have drawn thousands of kilometers of roads and transferred millions of objects from the old mapia to the new one.

But the result was worth it - the world received a detailed map (just a map, not a set of squares), which anyone can edit in real time (without registration, without additional gestures. In general, the stone in the garden opensteetmap )

But, if not strange, it caused a protest ( option on Habré ). Evolution, like revolution, steps on the bones.

Well, the beta is still underway. And while the developers are struggling with the rabid load of servers, let them increase it a little.
Head over to the map, find ourselves and places that interest us.
And add a dozen new ones.
All the same, Wikimapia is one of the largest world-class Russian startups.
( and the traffic in Russia is not so hot, we have less geeks? :) )

PS:
The project Wikimapia describes the whole world. Different places, of course, are described with different densities - but this depends on the activity of users from a particular region (including Putin’s bunkers , Atlantis’s splashdown site and the Moscow PRO system).

Many say that the beta wiki slows down. In fact, this is not so - objects are presented in the form of pictures, not divs, as before, which has a positive effect on speed. BUT! this allowed to display more objects on the map, and the client has to load more data. Highlighting objects when targeting, too, as long as it is not perfect, and works by simply iterating over objects. Refresh your browser (although to whom I say this, I will ask you to turn off firebug) and there will be no brakes.

YES! ANY object can be added to the map, which can be seen and exists in this map.

YES! if there are no roads of your city on Google maps, they are more likely to be on the wiki, or you can add them yourself.

NOT! If Google maps for your city, let's say, bad, they are bad and stay. hit google

PPS: I am not a Wikimapia employee, although rendering is the work of my hands and lnklnk
PPPS: the representative of the Wikimapia project on Habré is jack

PPPPS: Wikimapia project is looking for smart young people to solve non-standard tasks and to place balls for clips. Recruitment Center - the city of Troitsk.

references:

Wikimapia
Russian wikimapia section
Openstreetmap

This topic was written because no one wrote it to me.