Nicollet Illuminated 16" Diameter National Geographic Cartography, with Mountain Relief, Blue Ocean Globe Ball and Walnut Finished Hard Wood Base. The Nicollet features a medium teak hardwood base with steel yoke and die-cast meridian. This sturdy illuminated globe is perfect for the office, classroom and home. Thousands of place names are complemented with raised relief topographic features. Made in the U.S.A.

Like the light up featureWill be using it mostly to mark the location and proximity to other countries/cities for educational purposes for myself and grandchildren

I was surprised about the size and when i put it on the bookcase, it was stunning.i look at it every morning and throught out the day that makes my day.National Geographic you did it again. Well Done!Thank you

Got it from my mother for Christmas about 5 years ago. Great gift. The lights stay on about 5m then as the batteries go... Be careful changing the batteries!!! The mech. is fragile but very nice!!

Globe arrived with frame broken and the illumination highlights the area along the equator showing where the 2 halves of the globe are joined. Returned for refund

This globe has the best graphics.

The Nicollet globe is, well, adequate for general educational and informal decorative purposes. Being fully gimballed is a very big plus, and the underlying cartography from National Geographic is good. Place names are legible even at very small type sizes.But this is not a premium globe. As I quickly learned in my research, 16" globes are expensive (the ones from Columbus start at about $600). The wood base of the Nicollet is nicely finished, but the painted meridian and the plastic pivots look chintzy, and there is both vertical and horizontal play at the pivot points. There is a noticeable ridge and a slight misalignment between the two acrylic hemispheres where they are joined along the equator. And the electrical cord is an unattractive and annoying interference with gimballing.The color printing is fairly low resolution, with matrix "dots" visible to the naked eye, especially in the oceans. The place-name text is quite clear, but is a muted dark gray color, not sharp black. The illumination is bright and even, and it looks nice at night. But the "Dual Map" feature was a disappointment. Over the oceans, illumination shows off the bottom contours well; but over land, it only exhibits vegetation, not topography, and not to much effect. Speaking of topography, I have concluded that the raised relief feature is too crude to really be of informative value. For example, mountains appear to extend well into the ocean off Karachi, Pakistan.All in all, I'm satisfied with my choice. But if I had to do it over, I would either spend more for better quality, or spend less, for something like the Replogle 12" Atlantis model.

Lived up to expectations ++++ The kids are really excited to pinpoint which country they live in and understand where other countries are located relative to where they live on our Earth. It gives them a greater understanding about earth and wanting to learn more.