Google Earth most popular in Sudan!?

by Jon Thompson on August 6, 2008

When I ran Google Earth as a search term through Google’s new Insights for Search tool I received the following:

Yes, that is correct, it shows us that the folks in Sudan have the most interest in Google Earth!  Really!?  Sudan!?  Wait, last time I checked Sudan was a ‘no go’ zone for Google Earth downloads.  From my days behind a desk I remember the trials and tribulations associated with shipping just about anything to Sudan.  In the past, US export law has strictly prohibited people from downloading Google Earth if they were located in Sudan.  In turn, Google made the Google Earth download page off limits to anyone with the wrong IP address.(Stefan Geens over at Ogle Earth covered this issue last year.)

Is this interest due to Michael Graham’s Dafur Layers project?  Or, is it a matter of simply wanting what you can’t have?  In any event it is a shame that in a place where folks could make good use of GIS tool like Google Earth they cannot access it.  Perhaps they should give OpenStreetMap or Poly9’s FreeEarth a try.

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