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New maps for all of Europe
GfK GeoMarketing recently released the GfK Europe Map Edition 2008/2009, which contains thousands of new additions and updates. With around 1,000 digital maps for 42 countries, the map set is an ideal instrument for precision regional planning and geomarketing activities.
GfK GeoMarketing recently researched the several thousand administrative boundary changes that have occurred over the past year across all of Europe. The result is the new GfK Europe Map Edition – a collection of over 1,000 digital maps of 42 European countries that reflects the many changes of the past year.
Each year, many European countries – particularly in central and eastern Europe – change their administrative and postcode boundaries. For example, Latvia now has 167 fewer four-digit postcodes than it did in the previous year; Lithuania has 106 additional five-digit postcodes and Sweden has 109 new five-digit postcodes; as a result of the redrawing of county boundaries in the German federal state of Saxony Anhalt, 1,014 municipalities now have new identification numbers; after the recent postcode reform in Malta, the number of three-digit postcodes has increased from 28 to 68.
Up-to-date maps are essential for accurate spatial analyses
 All of these and many other changes have been implemented into the digital maps for 42 European countries included in the map set. This gives companies a reliable and up-to-date basis for their Europe-wide planning activities. In association with a geomarketing software application or geographic information system (GIS), digital maps serve as a foundation for boundary-crossing expansions and sales territory planning. The maps allow companies to analyze the regional distribution of company data and market potential.
“Up-to-date maps are vital for successful geomarketing,” explains Klaus Dittmann, head of GfK GeoMarketing’s cartography division. “Otherwise, information on locations and customers cannot be correctly imported into the maps. Consequently, GfK GeoMarketing updates its European maps every year. This requires an enormous amount of research and employee hours, because conditions vary widely among individual countries.”
GfK GeoMarketing provides maps for 240 countries around the globe – the world’s largest collection of digital administrative and postcode maps.
Regularly revised and supplemented maps
New maps, details and refinements have been added to this year’s Europe Map Edition: maps for Malta and Kosovo have been fully re-digitalized; Poland’s approximately 6,000 administrative regions have also been newly digitalized, providing a greater level of detail. This includes coverage of all municipalities, greater metropolitan areas, counties and voivodships.
One of the highlights of the 2008 update is the ultra-fine rendering of Turkey’s five-digit postcodes. The map is currently the only one of its kind on the market.
Some of the high-quality features of the new map set include
 gapless coverage, seamlessly fitting and overlap-free boundaries, national and local place-name attributions and infinite zoom capability.
A wealth of applications
Like all of the digital maps produced by GfK GeoMarketing, the new GfK Europe Map Edition is available in all standard digital map formats, including *.shp (ESRI), *.mid/*.mif (MapInfo), *.gdb (Geodatabase) and *.lay (GfK GeoMarketing).
For the first time, maps in *.lay format (GfK GeoMarketing) contain comprehensive Tele Atlas street maps that provide valuable infrastructure data for almost all countries. This data is indispensable for companies wishing to carry out Europe-wide sales territory planning in DISTRICT, GfK GeoMarketing’s software solution for territory planning. The data aids planning by automatically taking into account natural barriers such as rivers and mountains, as well as traffic flow and customer accessibility.
GfK GeoMarketing offers the new digital maps for 42 European countries as stand-alone country sets and as part of a western Europe, eastern Europe or comprehensive Europe package. Up-to-date, Europe-wide GfK purchasing power data is also available for use with these maps.
Additional information on the GfK Europe Map Set can be found at
www.gfk-geomarketing.com/europe.
Illustrations in print-quality can be downloaded at
www.gfk-geomarketing.com/maps_europe2008 (approx. 3,8 MB).
Sales contact: Sonja Scharf, Tel. +49 (0)7251 9295110,
s.scharf@gfk-geomarketing.com
Download press release (approx. 59 KB)
About GfK GeoMarketing
GfK GeoMarketing is one of Europe’s largest providers of geomarketing solutions for customers from all branches of trade. Its services include:
 Consultancy and reports  Market data  Digital maps   RegioGraph and DISTRICT geomarketing software solutions
The company is a subsidiary of the international GfK network. Ranked among the world’s top 5 market research organizations, the GfK Group consists of 115 subsidiaries and approximately 10,000 employees, with operations in 100 countries.
The GfK GeoMarketing press newsletter is published by:
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH,
Germany
www.gfk-geomarketing.com
Press Information:
Cornelia Lichtner
Public Relations
Tel. +49 (0)7251 9295 270
Fax +49 (0)7251 9295 290
c.lichtner@gfk-geomarketing.com
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