Gale is pleased to present the third edition of Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia. This is the first new edition of Geo-Data since 1989, and it represents a complete revision and updating of that work. The purpose of the book remains unchanged: to provide the reader with the most detailed and comprehensive descriptions available for the physical geography of countries.Geo-Datays focus and design is unique. Many encyclopedias, atlases, and other books provide some information on geography, but it is usually secondary to history, current events, or other topics. In these sorts of references physical geography receives a few paragraphs of coverage per country at best, compared to pages in Geo-Data. Among the few books that can rival Geo-Data coverage, none can match its ease of use. There is no need to hunt from one end of a dictionary or gazetteer to another, searching for details on a country's many different features. In Geo-Data everything is presented in one place. Each of Geo-Datays entries gives the reader a complete portrait of a country’s mountains, fields, forests, deserts, rivers, seas, wetlands, and other features, with additional information on population distribution and natural resources. Key facts and statistics are highlighted at the beginning of each entry. In addition to the country entries, Geo-Data features a World Rankings Appendix, listing the world's tallest mountains, longest rivers, deepest oceans, largest lakes, most populous countries, and other outstanding features.