| AEZ | Agro-Ecological Zones |
| AVHRR | Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer |
| BUUA | Boston University Urban Area |
| CIAT | Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical |
| CIESIN | Center for International Earth Science Information Network |
| DAFIF | Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File |
| DCW | Digital Chart of the World |
| DMA | Defense Mapping Agency |
| DMSP | Defense Meteorological Satellite Program |
| DN | Digital Numbers |
| DPKO | United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations |
| ESRI | Environmental Systems Research Institute |
| GIS | Geographical Information System |
| GLCC | Global Land Cover Characteristics |
| GNS | GEOnet Names Sever |
| GPW | Gridded Population of the World |
| GRUMP | Global Rural Urban Mapping Project |
| GRUMPe | Global Rural Urban Mapping Programme |
| IDB | International Data Base |
| IIASA | International Institute for Applied System Analysis |
| IPC | International Programs Center |
| IPFRI | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| JNCs | Jet Navigation Charts |
| JRC | European Commission's Joint Research Centre |
| LCCS | Land Cover Classification System |
| LT | Light intensity Threshold |
| MDGs | Millennium Development Goals |
| MODIS | MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer |
| NCGIA | National Center for Geographic Information Analysis |
| NGA | National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency |
| NGDC | National Geophysical Data Center |
| NIMA | National Imagery Mapping Agency |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NTL | Nighttime Lights |
| OLS | Operational Linescan System |
| ONC | Operational Navigation Chart |
| ORNL | Oak Ridge National Laboratories |
| PMRe5 | Poverty Mapping Rural extents at 5 arc-minutes |
| PMRd | Poverty Mapping Rural population density |
| PMRp | Poverty Mapping Rural population |
| PMRp5 | Poverty Mapping Rural population at 5 arc-minutes |
| PMRSd | Poverty Mapping Rural Settlements population den |
| PMRSe | Poverty Mapping Rural Settlements extents |
| PMRSp | Poverty Mapping Rural Settlements population |
| PMUd | Poverty Mapping Urban population density |
| PMUe | Poverty Mapping Urban extents |
| PMUp | Poverty Mapping Urban population |
| PMUR | Poverty Mapping Urban Rural database |
| SABE | Seamless Administrative Boundaries of Europe |
| TPCs | Tactical Pilotage Charts |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNCS | United Nations Cartographic Section |
| UNEP | United Nation Environment Programme |
| UNL | University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| UNSD | United Nations Statistic Division |
| UNup | United Nations urban population figures |
| USGS | U.S. Geological Survey |
| VIIRS | Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite |
| VMap0 | Vector Smart Map level 0 |
| VMap1 | Vector Smart Map level 1 |
| VMap2 | Vector Smart Map level 2 |
| WRI | World Resources Institute |
