About our maps

The IAU is the worldwide organisation of professional astronomers regardless of borders.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material on our maps do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IAU or the IAU OAE concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The territories shown in our maps follow the UN Geoscheme: a listing of countries and territories in different regions of the world produced by the United Nations Statistics Division. The names of territories on our website follow the UN Geoscheme or, in the case of China, Hong Kong; China, Macao; China, Nanjing and China, Taipei, follow the convention established at the 47th meeting of the IAU executive committee in 1980. Following guidance from the IAU, we added Kosovo to both our maps and the list of countries and territories.

Borders are drawn using the Natural Earth tool and adapted to match the borders shown in UN maps. The dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan.The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not been agreed upon by the parties. Dashed lines indicate disputed territories commonly marked as such on UN maps.