Somewhere in this lakeside Central American town, a child plays on a nameless street in Managua, Nicaragua. Nearby, there’s a woman who lives beside a yellow car. But it’s not her car. It’s her address. If you were to write to her, this is where you would send the letter: From where the Chinese restaurant used to be, two blocks down, half a block toward the lake, next door to the house where the yellow car is parked, Managua, Nicaragua.

If you’ve traveled in Costa Rica, you know the scene, as well. It’s not uncommon, in fact, to find a location without an address. Maybe just a geographic reference, such as “Up the Hill and around the corner from the Scotia Bank.” Check out this article from World Press that provides even better insight: www.worldpress.org/Americas

But, wait! Google.com announced this week an expansion of its Google Maps that can easily pinpoint your desired Managua, Nicaragua, destination. Click here to view the map.

Exciting news from Google.com: They’ve just added 54 new countries to Google Maps and more than doubled their coverage of Latin America and are now mapping three times as many countries in Asia as before. So if you’ve ever wanted to get the flavor of an energetic metropolis like Mexico City or scope out the relaxed vibe of a small island like Aruba, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s the full list of new countries:
Afghanistan, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen

For more information, read: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2007/09/more-of-world-for-you-to-explore.html