Groundwater Resources of the World

160 w. G.

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

20

40

60

80

100

120

160 e. G.

140

180

80

80
Thule

K
Barents

Laptev Sea

Kara Sea

Sea

Lake Taymyr

Baffin

Bay

KK

B ac k

n
za
Ka

KK

Nile
W hite N ile

K
Blu

Ou
b

ag a
an

na

an

a nc

Br

K
K

Libreville

l La k e

ha
m

ng

K
K

am i

ng
o

yk a
Ba

Am
ur

J ia
ng

an
Ch

an

Ch

Chen
a

Indu

Dar es Salaam

ha
ua

Lug
en
d

Fr a n

Bandung

Dili

I N D I A N

ire

Suva

tes

As
h

Orang e

Maseru

Alice Springs
to
n

De
g
sa
d
ua

Noumea

Tropic of Capricorn

go

ar
re

Brisbane

l on
Ba

ne

K
K

Dar
l

KK

Adelaide

K
n
hla
ac

Sydney

K
KKK Murray

Canberra
Auckland

K
K

Melbourne

KK

Tasman Sea

ad
o

Ne

Cr
ee

B
i

ing

40

B
i

Montevideo

Colo
r

y
ro

eo
Di

ero

Lake Eyre

+
K
K

K
Cape Town

in
nt

O C E A N

tz
Fi

Mu

rc
hi

K
K
K

Perth

so
n

+ Maputo

l
aa

bu
r

G ascoyne

Ora
ng e

ug
ua

Ur

ad
Sa l

Dulce

Johannesburg

Durban

Buenos Aires

20

c ue

K
Pretoria

er

Rio de Janeiro

Asuncion

Par
an
a

Cairns

Vic

Antananarivo

Cordoba

M
i tc
he
ll

Vitoria

Gaborone

Rosario

Honiara

K
K

Darwin

KParana
K K

Santiago

KK
Port Moresby

F or

Surabaya

Windhoek
Sao Paulo

ik

to r
ia

Sh

c isc o

Juru end a

Se p

Harare

Livingstone

Porto Alegre

O C E A N

Za mb ezi

Lake Kariba

Ok av a n go

Curitiba

g H ari

in

Belo Horizonte

K+
K
K

Equator

po
po

Ba
t an

Ma ha kam

Lim

KK

Su

Fl

zi

O C E A N

Para gu ay

o
ay

Antofagasta

na ib

be

m
co

K KK
KK

P a ra

K
Lusaka

Cunen

P il

20

KK

p
ga i K a
un

ue

m
Za

Goiania

Singapore

Lilongwe
K af

K
K
K

Mogadishu

Lake Malawi

Salvador

do
an

Santa Cruz de La Sierra

Brasilia

Kuala Lumpur

Cu

Cuiaba

K
Davao

Maceio

La Paz

re

at

Co

ia

gu
a

A ra
Xing

B eni

K KK
K Lake
Titicaca

China

Ho Chi Minh City

Medan

Lake Mweru

Campinas

more
Ma

Phnom Penh

O C E A N

ve ry

Jakarta

Lubumbashi
Guap
or

Manila

K a s ai

Cua nza

South

Chennai

Lake
Tanganyika

go

Bangalore

Bangkok

Makassar

an

Recife
Luanda

co
cis

ire
s

K
Vientiane

Palembang

Kananga

of Bengal

Nairobi
Lake
Victoria

Kw

ag
all
Hu

sP

K
+

K
K
KK

K
K
KK

Kigali

Kinshasa

Sao F
ran

Bay

Lo m

Ta
pa
j

Co
Parnaiba

Lake Kivu

Natal

Te
le

Vijayawada

20

Kampala

Lake Edward

Kasa i

rus
Pu

Sa lwee
n

Al

Lake
Albert

Kisangani

Brazzaville

os

Yangon

Haiphong

Colombo

Lake
Turkana

Fortaleza

Irir i

ano

a li
ay
Uc

M ar

a
e ir
ad

Vishakhapatnam
Krishna

di

Hong Kong

ga

a no n
M ar

ha n
a

Madurai

Ue le

ng o

Manaus

Iquitos

Nanning

Tropic of Cancer

Kaoshsiung

Shantou

Coimbatore

gu
i

Bangui

Belem

Xi n g

Chittagong

ri

C au

T'aichung

Guangzhou

lle
bee

Douala S
Yaounde
+

zonas
ma

Pune

Taipei
Putian

as

Lom Lagos
Accra

of Guinea

eta

G od
ava

Bhi
ma
Krish
na

S e a

Sea
Fuzhou

Hanoi
Ma

Aden
Lake Tana

Kolkata

A r a b i a n

Jubba
We bi

Ma
gd
a le

am

ab

M is s
is s ip
pi

Benin City

S ao

Gris

Jamshedpur

China
Wenzhou

Sea

K K

Jabalpur

Dhaka
Asansol
+
Khulna

Nagpur

KW

Co

Neg

Putuma
yo

Tropic of Capricorn

a da
rm
Na

P A C I F I C

East

+
+

Osaka

Addis Ababa

nue
Be

Ibadan

o
oc

Ca
qu

Juru

Indore

Dhanbad

Shanghai
Wuxi
Suzhou
Ningbo
Hangzhou

Guiyang
Kunming

Hiroshima

Ogooue

Bhopal

Gan
ge
s

Tokyo

Dig ul

Nig
er

Lake
Volta

Gulf

Toca n tins

Conch

Ya
qu i

Kiz

Abidjan

To c a n t in s

Gr
e

Mi
s

ento
ram
S ac

Rh one

Da llo l B os so

Kaduna

Aurangabad

Fukuoka

Tone

Sha

Cayenne

N'Djamena

K
K

Pusan

K Nagoya
Kyoto K
+

Changzhou

Changsha

Wu

i
eb

Essequibo

C ar o n i

Monrovia

Kano

Allahabad

Surat

B
i

Orin

Quito

Lima

Niamey

Patna

Varanasi

Ahmadabad

Thimphu

h ar a

Paramaribo

Lake Chad

K
Ouagadougou K K

KKumasi

Kanpur

hag

Taegu
+ Ulsan

Nanchang

Nile

eta

G uavia re

K K

K+ Hyderabad
K
K

Lucknow
G
+

al

te
hi

Bogota

Guayaquil

a
Ba ndam

co

Georgetown

Medellin

K
K

K+ Agra

K+

Jaipur

KK
K

Kathmandu

Conakry

K
KK

Jia ng

n
eko
M

Valencia

KK

Chengdu
Chongqing

ng
a

Nile

Bucaramanga

Equator

K
K
s

ari
Ch

Barquisimeto

Bla ck Volta

Maracaibo Maracay Caracas

Cali

Huainan
Nanjing

ng

Taejon
+ Qingdao

ui

Bra h m a pu tr a

+ Zibo

Wuhan

+ Meerut
Ga
Faridabad +

Sendai

Lhasa

tl
Su

+ Vadodara

Sana

Jia

Inch'on

i
sh u

Bamako
+

White

Volta

b ia

er

on
g

Taian
Yellow
Zhengzhou
+
+ Zaozhuang
Kwangju
+
Sea
Xuzhou +
Suzhou
Fuyang

Xian

gH
e

o P hr ay a

Ga

Ni g

K K

Asmara

+
Jinan +

Seoul

Yantai

Linyi

Shijiazhuang

40

Japan

Dalian

B Dongguan

Han Sh

Delhi

B
i
B
i

ea

+
m

P A C I F I C

Lahore +
Ludhiana
+ Multanej
b

Khartoum

an

Jia
ng
Ya
l

Hyderabad

ra

Dakar

Timbuktu

Lanzhou
Hu

++

Mumbai

ba
At

Seneg
a

ri

KK

an
g

C ha

A T L A N T I C

Caribbean Sea

su

Rawalpindi
Gujranwala
+
Amritsar
Faisalabad

K
l

Panama City

Ch

In
du

Peshawar

Karachi

Mecca

K
KSrinagar

Pyongyang

ng

Jeddah

K
KKK
K

Sea of

Tangshan
+

Tianjin
Taiyuan

H
Kabul

B
+

H H

ng

Nouakchott

Santo Domingo

Barranquilla

Dushanbe

Dubai

o
ek

Lake Nasser

Sapporo

Jilin

Huludao

Beijing

ng

San Juan

Baotou

no
Ori

40

gro

K
KK

Ch
ub
ut

Christchurch

Hobart

Clu
tha

ka
Yar

Muscat

KK

+ Shenyang

nt

Port-au-Prince

K
K KK
K
Belmopan
K
KK K K
K
K
o
K
Co c
Guatemala +
K Tegucigalpa
+
+
San Salvador K
+K
K
Managua
K
K
K
K
K K
+
San Jose K K

iH
B

a
alv

Aswan

Xiliao He

Abu Dhabi

K
K

Changchun

dy

Doha

Vladivostok

Issyk Kul

Tashkent

ed

Mexico City

K Merida
K
K

B
i

Tamanrasset

Riyadh

KK Khabarovsk

a rw a
A ye y

20

K
BK
Toluca
K K
Puebla
+
+K

Ulaanbaatar

K
K
K

Guadalajara

Ho

Leon

B
i

Havana

B
i

B
i

B
i

Gulf of Mexico

B
Honolulu

Nile

Tropic of Cancer

Miami

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy

Ho

Monterrey

K
K

Bishkek

Kuwait

B
i

Murzuq

Us

B
i

Tindouf

Cairo

Okhotsk

Ar gun

On
on

g He

B
i

K
K

ga

n
Hua

K
H

Tampa

K
K

le n

New Orleans

Ze
y

Almaty

h
he

ad o

Bra vo

+ Torreon

BHouston

lo r

Atlanta

Am
u

ilka
Sh

is
gr

Co

San Antonio

os

o
Ri

Austin

zo s

H
B

Se

arya

Dallas

B
B

Re

uD
m

Ciudad Juarez

Lake Baikal

Urumqi

s
ate

Phoenix

Br a

Tijuana

Memphis

San Diego

s se
ne
Te n

S e a

Harbin

rya
Da

Philadelphia

Washington D.C.

Cincinnati

O hio

New York
Baltimore

Boston

Providence

Pittsburgh

St. Louis

K
K

Ark an sas

Lake Erie

B e r i n g

K am ch at ka

Sea of

Ili

S hu

yr

Halifax

Lake Balqash

Kansas City

Cleveland
Columbus

Yenise

Se

Denver

Las Vegas

Los Angeles

Chicago

Indianapolis

en

.L

Irkutsk

Ok
a

Astana

K
K

Ob

ia

si

Montreal

sp

K
B

tt e

Detroit

ppi
ssi

St

ce
K
ren
aw K

Lake Ontario

Milwaukee +

Irty
s

San Jose

Novosibirsk

Ca

Pla

Great Salt Lake

Lake Michigan

Ottawa

K K
Toronto

pr

d
Re

Quebec
Lake Huron

do
ra
ol o

m
a

ur
m

ut
Pr

n
st o
ll ow

ra

as
Ma

KK

Sacramento

Chulym

Ch
in d
win

a ny

Lake Nipigon

Winnipeg

60
Magadan

Tobo
l

Ea stm ain

Colum

A lb

Missour

San Francisco +

Rh in e

ca
as
ab
At
h

S
Fras
er

Goose Bay

Anadyr

yr

Lena

Angara

Omsk

ad

e
ak

An

o lo
n

Grande Riviere

Lake Winnipeg

Minneapolis

40

us k
a

ewan
tch

Ye

Sn

Ob

s ka
Sa

u ri
s so
Mi

Portland

Tun
g

le

v ern
Se

lumb ia
Co

Om

ti

els

an

Calgary

Al d a

ly m

Vi

Lake Superior

Seattle

Ko

Yakutsk

Lena

ill
Churc h

on

Edmonton

bia

Bay

Lake Althabasca

Yen
is

am e
nna
ya

irk
a

uy
Vily

ara
ng

of Alaska

P od k

Ya
n

w
tche
ka
as

ya ya T
u n gu s ka

Ind
ig

na

ac

Ta
z

sh

Pe

Vancouver

Hudson

Thle wia za

Churchill

Gulf

N i z hn

r ty

Le

er

Great Slave Lake

Juneau

Bering
Sea

Lia r

O le ne k

tu y

om

60

Ko

r g in a

Anchorage

ie

Sea

Norilsk

Gl

Ma
cke
n

Yukon

+ O

Siberian

Cop
p

im

Reykjavik

Ot

ok w

Godthab

a
us
elf

Co m o e

K u sk

elon
Th

Great Bear Lake

Ste wa rt

Nome

Yeni
sey

East

Yukon

Yu kon

Murmansk
K K
K
Tulo m a
K KK K
Ka lixae
K
lv
K KLul en K mijoki K
Arct ic Circl e
Ke
KK
KK
KK
a
K
P e c h or
A ng
K
K
erm
Arkangelsk
an
K
KK
K
KK K
K
KK K
Se v
.D
v in
Lake Onega
Ob
K
K K
a
K
KK K
KK
K KK
K
K
KK
K
va
I
Ne
K
Helsinki
K
K
K
K
Oslo
K
Lake Ladoga
K
K
K
K Saint Petersburg
K
Vnern
K
K K K Stockholm
TallinnKK
K
Lake Rybinsk
K
K K KKLake Peipus
KKKKK
K K
K
Baltic
K K Vttern
Volga
K K
K
K K K
KK Riga
Yekaterinburg
Perm
ga
K
Vol
K
+
K
K
K
K
Nizhniy
Novgorod
K
K
K
N
o
r
t
h
K
K
K Copenhagen K
Moscow
Kazan
K
Sea
Kama
K
K
+ K
KDaugava
Chelyabinsk
K
K
K
Neman Vilnius
Ufa
K
S
e
a
K
K
K K
Dn ipro
O
K
+
K
ka
K
Lake Kuybyshev
+
K
K
K
K
Minsk
KKK K
K K
K
+
K KK K
Hamburg
K Dublin
K
K
Samara
K
K
K K
+
K
K
K
nt
KK K
KK
K
K
K KAmsterdam KK
Tre
K
Wis
K
K
l
B
a
ug
K R K KK
Birmingham
K K
K
K
+ K
K
El b +
K
lga
KK
hin
K
e Berlin
Vo
K KK
Ish i
London Rotterdam
K
K
U ra l
Warsaw
K
K
m
K
K
K
K
K
K
Od
K
K
Brussels
+
Kyiv
KK
+K
K
K
Lille
+
K K
D on
K
K
Sei
Kharkiv
Prague
n
K
K
K
Paris
K
+
be
KK
t er
Volgograd
K
K Tisza
KK
nu
KDnisK
Vienna
K
K
K
Munich
K KK
D aK
K
+KK K
Loir
+ K
K
Dnipropetrovs'k
K
K
Budapest
K
K
K K K
Vo
K
+
KK K
lga
K
K KKK
K
KK K
Dn i
K
K
Chisinau
K
K
K
Rostov-na-Donu
K
K
K
Astrakhan
S
a
K
v
K
K
a
D ra
KK
vaK K
K
K
KK K Odesa KK
+ K
KK Kuban
K K K
Po + Milan
K
Lyon
K
Aral Sea
+
K
K+
K
Turin
K
Bucharest
Da
K K
Belgrade
nu be
K
K
K K
Sofiya
Bl ac k Se a
K
Marseille
KK
Eb
K
K
K
T'bilisi
r
o
K Douro
K
+
K
Istanbul
Rome
Madrid K
+
K K K K
K Barcelona
KK
Yerevan
Ankara
Kura
Naples
K
s
KK+
hrate
T aj o
ak
Baku
K
Eup
ilim
Bursa
K adiana K
r
az
K
K
Gu
K
Smyrana
B
+
Tabriz
+
K
Ashgabat
Lisbon
Tigr is
K
K
B
Adana
K
K
KK K
Tunis
K
Algiers
Athens
K
K KK
K
K
Mashhad
K
Al Mawsil
Karaj
K
K
K
H
K
H
K
K
B
H
Aleppo
Tehran
K
K K K KK K
K
Euph
M
e
d
i
t
e
r
r
a
n
e
a
n
Rabat
r
K HK
H
K
KH H
Beirut
K
Casablanca K
K
K
K
K i
Tripoli
B
Damascus
Baghdad ark
Sea
K
B
Esfahan
H KK
+
B
H
Benghazi
i
B
K
Ti
Tel
Aviv-Yafo
K
Amman
K H
+
K
+
K
B
+
Alexandria
B
K
Jerusalem B
K
B
H
K
H
K
H
H H
B
B
Shiraz
H+
i
B
i
H
K K
H

K
p ine
rcu
Po

Pyasin
a

Ushuaia

S c o t i a

S e a

60

60

Antarct ic Circle

Antarct ic Circle

W e d d e l l

S e a

80

80

Scale 1 : 25 000 000

BGR Hannover / UNESCO Paris 2008. All rights reserved.

Printed by: Oeding Druck GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Mean Annual Precipitation (1961 - 1990)

150 w.G.

120

90

60

30

30

60

90

120

150 e.G.

Population Density (2000)

150 w.G.

180

60

30

30

60

90

120

150 e.G.

Legend

180

60

30

30

60

60

30

30

30

90

60

60

30

120

WHYMAP and the Groundwater Resources Map of the World 1 : 25 000 000

30

30

60

60

60

Scale 1 : 120 000 000

Population in persons/km2

Precipitation in mm/year

10

50

Scale 1 : 120 000 000

100

200

500

1000

2500

Source:
Gridded Precipitation Normals Data Set,
Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC),
Offenbach 2007

no data

25

250

1000

no data

River Basins and Mean Annual River Discharge (1961 - 1990)

150

120

90

60

30

30

60

60

90

120

150

Sources:
Gridded Population of the World (GPW), Version 3
Center for International Earth Science Information
Network (CIESIN), Columbia University;
United Nations Food and Agriculture Programme (FAO) &
Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) 2005

Groundwater Recharge (1961 - 1990) per Capita (2000)

150

180

60

30

30

60

90

120

150 e.G.

180

60

30

30

30

30

90

60

60

30

120

30

30

30

Within the past decades the interest in groundwater has increased considerably due to water shortage problems on
local, regional and even global levels. In order to support the sustainable management of groundwater resources, it is
necessary to map, model and quantify the stored volume and the average annual replenishment, and to determine
the chemical quality of groundwater. Therefore, the World-wide Hydrogeological Mapping and Assessment
Programme (WHYMAP) was created in 1999 as a contribution to the world-wide efforts to improve the management
of the earth's water resources including groundwater.
WHYMAP is a joint programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
the Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW), the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH),
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural
Resources (BGR).
It aims at collecting, compiling and visualising hydrogeological information at a global scale, to convey groundwater
related information in an appropriate way for the global discussion on water issues and to give recognition to invisible
underground water resources. WHYMAP brings together the huge efforts in hydrogeological mapping, at regional,
national and continental levels. BGR, together with the partners above, is gradually building up a geographic
information system (WHYMAP GIS) in which the groundwater data are managed and visualised.
This Groundwater Resources Map of the World at the scale of 1 : 25 000 000 is a result of WHYMAP and combines
the related data known or published so far. It shows various characteristic groundwater environments in their areal
extent: blue colour is used for large and rather uniform groundwater basins (aquifers and aquifer systems usually in
large sedimentary basins that may offer good conditions for groundwater exploitation), green colour areas have
complex hydrogeological structure (with highly productive aquifers in heterogeneous folded or faulted regions in close
vicinity to non-aquifers), and brown colour symbolises regions with limited groundwater resources in local and shallow
aquifers.
Within the three main hydrogeological units up to five different categories are defined according to their modelled
recharge rates from over 300 mm to less than 2 mm per year. Dark colours (dark blue, green and brown) represent
areas with very high recharge rates while light blue, green and brown colours outline regions with very low recharge
potential. The latter category is vulnerable to groundwater mining. Groundwater recharge rates refer to the period
1961 - 1990 and are derived from simulations with the global hydrological model WaterGAP, version 2.1f, provided by
the University of Frankfurt/Main, Germany (Doell et al., 2006).
Aspects of hydrodynamic conditions are addressed by outlining areas of groundwater discharge in arid zones (e.g.
endorheic basins or "chotts" and "sebkhas").

60

60

Topographic base map

Wilhelm Struckmeier and Andrea Richts (Chief Editors),

Ian Acworth, Giuseppe Arduino, Emilia Bocanegra, Philip Commander,
William Cunningham, Petra Dll, Abdallah Droubi, Nelson da Franca,
Wilfried Gilbrich, Jan Girman, Jac van der Gun, Jean Margat,
Dominique Poitrinal, Shaminder Puri, Alfonso Rivera,
Mohamed Safar-Zitoun, Slavek Vasak, Jaroslav Vrba, Peter Winter,
Markus Zaepke, Han Zaisheng and Igor Zektser

CGMW / UNESCO (2000):

UN (2006):
ESRI (2006):
NASA / USGS (2006):
GRDC (2007):

modified by BGR (2007/2008)

Under the auspices of

Map projection

UNESCO / IHP
UNESCO / IGCP
BGR
CGMW
IAEA
IAH

Robinson projection, longitude of central meridian 11E,

spheroid WGS84, geographic coordinates

Andras Szllsi-Nagy and Alice Aureli

Robert Missotten
Hans-Joachim Kmpel and Wilhelm Struckmeier
Jean-Paul Cadet and Philippe Rossi
Pradeep Aggarwal and Andy Garner
Stephen Foster and Jiri Krasny

60

Mean river discharge in km /year

0-5

500 - 800

5 - 10

800 - 1200

10 - 50

1200 - 2000

50 - 100

2000 - 3000

100 - 500

> 3000

Scale 1 : 120 000 000

major river basin

land area with minor or inactive river basins

Sources:
Basins selected, derived and adjusted by
Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), Koblenz 2007,
based on HYDRO1K by USGS;
Mean river discharge calculated with WaterGAP 2.1,
Universities of Frankfurt/Main and Kassel 2007;
Rivers and lakes by GRDC & WHYMAP 2007

Scale 1 : 120 000 000

Cartographical editing / GIS

Groundwater recharge in m3/person/year

(aggregated for countries or subnational units)
country boundary
0

250

500

1000

1500

3000

10000

no data

Sources:
Mean groundwater recharge calculated with WaterGAP 2.1,
Universities of Frankfurt/Main & Kassel 2007;
Population data based on GPW - Version 3,
Center for International Earth Science Information Network
(CIESIN) 2005

The global Groundwater Resources Map contains only selected information related to groundwater. For reasons of
clarity and readability important complementary information has been deferred to a set of four insert maps at the
scale of 1 : 120 000 000 (see left). These thematic maps highlight the issues of "Mean Annual Precipitation", "River
Basins and Mean Annual River Discharge", "Population Density" and "Groundwater Recharge per Capita".
Comparison between the main Groundwater Resources Map and the four thematic small-scale maps should help to
understand the global picture of groundwater and surface water resources and provide insight into their pressures, in
particular the priority use for drinking purposes. Essential geographic differences are revealed over the globe in the
distribution and amount of rainfall, the most important input factor for both, surface water flow and groundwater
replenishment. The latter is mirrored in the main map by various colour shades. The rainfall map is based on data
from the Global Precipitation and Climate Centre (GPCC) in Offenbach, Germany. To highlight the surface water
situation, a map of major active water basins (surface water catchment areas) has been provided by the Global Runoff
Data Centre (GRDC) in Koblenz, Germany. In addition, the surface water courses and lakes have been classified
according to their mean annual discharge. This picture complements with the main map, particularly in the dry regions
of the world, where no surface water is available but luckily some of the biggest aquifer systems are located.
Population density also varies largely on earth and is a key factor for the broad variation of water demand on the
continents. This information combined with the amount of groundwater recharge modelled by Doell et al. (2006)
provides categories of mean annual groundwater recharge per capita. On this map, large countries have been
subdivided into individual sub-regions or states, if this was appropriate or known, to highlight the regional variation.
Further information will be provided in a corresponding explanatory booklet to be published soon.
See also: www.whymap.org

Prepared by

The WHYMAP initiative has been supported by the IHP Council

within the framework of the IHP VI programme (2002-2007).
60

Groundwater resources frequently sustain important wetland ecosystems. Therefore, wetlands with a surface larger
than 500 hectares which are supposed to be groundwater related have been abstracted from the existing data base
listing wetlands according to the RAMSAR convention (www.wetlands.org/rsis).
Rising demands from population growth and food production are calling for a closer look at the use of groundwater.
Therefore, known areas of heavy groundwater abstraction prone to over-exploitation and areas of groundwater mining
are mapped. Cities shown on the map (mostly those with a population estimated at more than 1 million inhabitants in
2005 according to the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs) known to have at least 25 % of
the total water consumption supplied by groundwater have been identified by a special symbol.
Groundwater quality is an important issue for the use of groundwater such as drinking water supply and irrigated food
production. Areas where salinity of groundwater regionally exceeds 5 g/l are highlighted by orange hatching.

BGR

Uta Philipp, Andrea Richts

Geological Map of the World 1 : 25 000 000, 2nd edition

Cartographic Data
Data & Maps
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM30)
Rivers & Lakes

Groundwater resources and recharge (mm/year)

very high

medium

high
300

100

very low

low
20

in major groundwater basins

in areas with
complex hydrogeological structure
in areas with local and shallow aquifers

Special groundwater features

area of saline groundwater (> 5 g/l total dissolved solids (TDS))

natural groundwater discharge area in arid regions

area of heavy groundwater abstraction with over-exploitation

B
i

area of groundwater mining

selected wetland, mostly groundwater related

Surface water
major river

large freshwater lake

Geography and Climate

!

selected city

!
+

selected city,
partly dependent on groundwater

large saltwater lake

country boundary

continuous ice sheet

boundary of continuous permafrost

Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever
on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations or the WHYMAP Consortium concerning the legal status of any country, territory,
city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
This map was derived and compiled from disparate sources of information. The WHYMAP Consortium gives no warranty, expressed
or implied, to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied and accepts no liability whatsoever in respect of loss, damage,
injury or other occurrences however caused.
The data and information on this map are protected under the copyright of Bundesanstalt fr Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR)
and UNESCO. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever or stored in a retrieval
system of any nature without the prior written permission of BGR and UNESCO.

GROUNDWATER RESOURCES OF THE WORLD

1 : 25 000 000

extracted from:

World-wide Hydrogeological Mapping and Assessment Programme (WHYMAP)

www.whymap.org