Ogle Earth has done some digging into the history of the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border — disputes over which date back to the 1850s — and comes to the following conclusion:
Given all this information, we can conclude that the narrative currently dominating the internet is wrong: Nicaragua did not mistakenly enter Costa Rican territory because it relied on Google Maps. [Nicaraguan president Daniel] Ortega’s justification for Nicaragua’s actions appeal to documents from the 19th century; [Edén] Pastora’s mention of Google Maps is just a taunt.
This has to do with recent dredging of the Rio San Juan, not Google’s map data. And Stefan also notes that Bing’s map data in the area isn’t all that precise either. Worth reading in full.
Previously: Nicaraguan Incursion into Costa Rican Territory Blamed on Google Maps Error.
Nicaragua ‘Opportunistically’ Blamed Google Maps for Border Incursion first appeared on The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps on November 7, 2010. Copyright © 2010 Jonathan Crowe. Distributed under a Creative Commons licence.
