Looking for mega-mega-pixel map of the world ...

For a birthday party, I want to print off a map of the world for the dining room table - we're doing a "world theme".

A friend has access to a 36" roll printer and I'm reasonably competent in Photoshop ... so I figure I can "split" the world in two, print two long rolls, tape 'em togather, and this will look really cool. However, I need a mega-mega-pixel image of the world. I've looked at the CIA Factbook (an excellent general resource BTW), but their maps are fairly small.

I.e. if I want something that will print at 100dpi, I need it to be on the order of 8,000X6,000 pixels. I can certainly get away with less, but after Googl'ing to the end of the Internet, I haven't come across anything that is 3,000+ pixels (linear dimension) of the world that I'm really happy with.

Posted here because I didn't see any forums specific to graphics ... so anyone have any good ideas/pointers?

Thanx,
alek

P.S. Christmas Lights/Webcam are coming ... SOON ... it's gonna look awesome this year - may be over 20,000 lights again - will let you guys know when you can check it out.

 

7200x3200 - Not totally realistic, but it's big. ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/GLOBE_DEM/pictures/GLOBALeb3litcolshade_ver2.jpg

7200x3200 - Similar to previous one, only it doesn't feature cities. ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/GLOBE_DEM/pictures/GLOBALeb3colshade.jpg

I'll keep looking, but that's the best I can find right now.

 

You could always get a cap from World Wind
http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/worldwind/

 

Goldy, mah boy, you have just earned yourself +10 cool points for posting that.

I think I just found my new addiction!

 

gottheit: I should have mentioned in my original posting that I have looked at the NOAA stuff - yea, this is in the ballpark size-wise, but I'm looking more for a map that shows the country boundaries.

goldfish: That's some cool stuff - I've read about program you can download and fiddle with hundreds of MBytes of satellite data ... but as noted above, I'm looking for something with boundaries.

Thanx for chiming in guys.

 

WW is really great, you can zoom RIGHT IN on stuff, like, you can actually see the roads around where i live

I think you can turn country boundtries on in WW, I think there is a setting there somewhere. I know www.keyhole.com definatly does.

 

Depends on how much per hour you value your time, but why not buy the biggest World map that suits you and blow it up to the size you require at your friendly, but maybe expensive, photocopy (Xerox) shop. Bazza