France creates Geoportal, Google Earth Lookalike

France has unveiled its Geoportal service that will allows users to to zoom in on images of locations throughout France.

France has developed and launched a website--www.geoportail.fr--that will offer high-resolution images of locations throughout France that will rival Google Earth, the pioneers of satellite imaging service. 

Geoportal, the new service, will allow users to zoom in on images to a resolution of just 50cm, rivalling the resolution provided by Google Earth in the US.

Geoportal, was launched by President Jacques Chirac, who is reported to have said that the new product will place France at the forefront of new technologies. 

Geoportal was developed by the government-funded National Geographic Institute at a cost of US$7.5 million. Geoportal will provide aerial views of an area, detailed maps, geological data,a nd 3-D images. 

Geoportal was built using 400,000 aerial photographs that were compiled and updated every five years by the IGN. Geoportal also have around 3700 maps. The service allows users to search by street name or town. Geoportal also allows users to search for areas by typing in natural features or tourist spots and then searching through relevant photographs or videos.

Initial test reports by users, however, have been disappointing as many reported that the service crashed because of the large number of connections.

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