I have seen many services using map API’s that are essentially a proof of concept using mashed up services. All in all none have been ’sticky’ for me or really added much value. But, wikimapia is different. Wikimapia is very simple web service that is a wikipedia for places. From their site, “WikiMapia is a project to describe the whole planet Earth.” Only released a month ago I was surprised to see many places mapped out in central Iowa (which is generally one of the last places to receive attention from user-generated content).

If you are familiar with google maps, you will know how to use this right away. First thing I did, map out my hometown - Sheldahl, Iowa. Yes, it really is that size. Moving on to Des Moines (Capital City as we call it) I found that many places had already been added, such as public areas like the baseball field and parks.

When adding a place, you simply give a title, description, and tags. Simple, easy. The search is pretty cool too. I added and tagged my favorite pub, the Hessen Haus. Now, if you search for the tags ‘desmoines’ and ‘bar’ you will see Hessen Haus in the list (only bar added thus far). The interface is excellent in that it’s a huge map with options in the upper right. No nonsense.

As usual though, I have my feature requests. I think when a place is added, a link to its wikipedia entry should be automagically placed in the description in order to find out more information.

technorati tags:wikimapia, map, wiki, tools, web 2.0