Google Maps Street View Expands to New Countries & Google Earth Features Historical Imagery

Google is rolling out various exciting new features to its Maps and Earth applications. A highlight of these updates is the introduction of a historical aerial imagery feature in the Google Earth app, which enables users to view images of specific locations dating back up to 80 years. This innovative feature allows users to witness the transformations of landscapes over the decades.

With the powerful historical imagery feature in Google Earth, users can analyze changes in environments and gain insights into “how forests have been affected by human activity and the changing climate.”This feature is accessible through the Google Earth application on both web and mobile platforms.

Major cities such as London, Paris, and Berlin are among the highlighted locations where users can explore historical imagery, with some photographs going back as far as the 1930s.

In addition to the new capabilities in Google Earth, Google is expanding the Street View functionality in Google Maps to an impressive 80 countries. This rollout includes countries like Bosnia, Namibia, Liechtenstein, and Paraguay, where Street View is available for the first time. Furthermore, nations such as Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, and Rwanda will benefit from enhanced Street View coverage.

To capture imagery in difficult-to-access locations, Google has utilized a lightweight camera. This new design facilitates the gathering of fresh data, paving the way for the continuous expansion of Street View into more regions.

Moreover, both the Google Earth and Maps applications will enhance satellite imagery quality. According to the official blog, starting this week, users will experience “a brighter, more vibrant globe made possible thanks to our cloud-removal technology.”Google elaborated that:

We’ve employed our Cloud Score+ AI model, which has been trained on millions of images, to identify and remove elements such as clouds, cloud shadows, haze, and mist. At the same time, this model preserves real-world weather patterns—like ice, snow, and mountain shadows—visible on the map. The outcome is a refreshed global mosaic that provides a clearer and more accurate representation of Earth.

Overall, these exciting new features will empower users to explore the Earth in both its historical and present context with remarkable detail.

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