PARIS, January 31, 2026 — Two billion people worldwide reach for it daily, whether planning a cross-country move or simply seeking the quickest route to a new bistro: Google Maps. But this ubiquitous tool, launched in 2004, raises a fundamental question—can a single American company dominate global cartography, and should it?
The Shifting Landscape of Maps and Power
The rise of digital maps has democratized access to geographical information, but also concentrated power in the hands of tech giants.
- Historically, mapmaking was a strategic undertaking reserved for rulers and states.
- The digital age has dramatically changed map access, but also introduced new dependencies.
- France, a historical leader in cartography, faces the question of relying on foreign-made maps.
- The creation of the first map of France was a monumental, century-long project.
This reliance is a relatively recent phenomenon. For centuries, maps weren’t freely available guides; they were strategic assets, often closely guarded secrets. Today, that’s flipped. We routinely use maps created abroad, a concept almost unthinkable just thirty years ago.
The Historical Weight of Cartography
Maps have always been intrinsically linked to power. Creating a detailed, accurate map requires significant time, resources, and expertise—making it historically expensive and complex. Beyond the logistical challenges, a map provides essential understanding of a territory, enabling control, administration, and defense. Throughout history, maps were commissioned not by the populace, but by those in power: princes, kings, and heads of state.
Is France, a nation with a proud cartographic legacy stemming from the work of Jean Picard and the Cassini dynasty, poised to cede control of its own territorial mapping to Google?
Reconciling the historical imperative of having one’s own map with the realities of a digital, interconnected world is a complex challenge. This question is particularly acute in France, a nation that has long been at the forefront of cartographic innovation. To explore this issue, we look back at the remarkable story of the very first map of France—a project that spanned over a century—and speak with Sébastien Soriano, the director of the National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information, widely known as IGN.
The power to map is the power to understand, to control, and ultimately, to govern. As digital maps become increasingly central to our lives, the question of who controls those maps becomes ever more critical.
