The best satellite image of the darkside of Earth that I have seen....

Click Photo to Download High-Resolution Photo (386 Kb) -- Actually a Composite of hundreds of photos taken by the Defense Meteorological Satellites (DMSP). It is interesting to note the various economic and political patterns that are visible. For example, look at the remarkable regular grid of very small towns that are in the midwest of the United States that are a result of the government land grants to the railroads in the late 19th century whereby county seats were created every so many miles. I was born in one of those tiny dots that still exists -- Paducah, Texas :) Perhaps the most striking political pattern shows vividly in the difference between South Korea and the Socialist North. The contrast is amazing - the South is a blaze of light while the North is almost completely dark.. The linear patterns formed along the Trans-Siberian Railroad are also remarkable. Look at the intense development along the Nile River in Egypt. The central backbone mountains of Italy are almost dark. The road between Delhi, India south to Agra where the Taj Mahal is located is striking even though the highway itself is a small two-lane road. Islands show up nicely -- Stewart's Island in the southern most part of New Zealand; the Cape Verde Island just west of the equatorial bulge of Africa; and, of course, Stanley in the Falklands... Photo from the NASA site at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html in case it disappears...