Image credits

Our illustrations

The wide image at the top of a place or country page is made by us. It is drawn in the spirit of the location - the right kind of rock, water, forest and light - but it is an illustration, not a record. Every one of them carries the note Illustrative image, and none is ever captioned as a photograph of the real place.

Real photographs

Where genuine photographs exist under a licence that permits reuse, they appear in a separate Real photos panel further down the page. Each one lists the photographer, the licence and a link back to the source, exactly as the licence requires. We use images released under Creative Commons attribution licences, public domain dedications, and the free licences of open photo libraries.

We do not use "all rights reserved" images, images found without a traceable source, or non-commercial-only licences. If you are the author of a photo here and something is credited wrongly, write to hello@meridiela.com and it will be fixed or removed the same week.

Current photo count

153 licensed photographs across 153 places.

• Adamstown and Bounty Bay, Pitcairn Islands - Makemake at German Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Afghan Cuisine, Afghanistan - Christine A. Darius (U.S. armed forces) (CC BY 2.0)
• Agra Fort, India - Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Alta Rock Art, Norway - Chmee2 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Ancient Olympia, Greece - Christaras A (CC BY 3.0)
• Angel Falls, Venezuela - Berrucomons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Atlantic Sea Park, Norway - El Pantera (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Band-e Amir, Afghanistan - Carl Montgomery (CC BY 2.0)
• Banff National Park, Canada - Gorgo (Public domain)
• Bassin Bleu, Haiti - Alex Carroll (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Bath, United Kingdom - Diliff (CC BY 2.5)
• Belarusian Cuisine, Belarus - Photo made by Daniel Spils and uploaded to flickr.com (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Bergen Fish Market, Norway - adam drew from DFW; Texas; USA (CC BY 2.0)
• Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea - Shoshana Sommer (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Bora Bora, French Polynesia - The original uploader was Sba2 at English Wikipedia. (CC BY 2.5)
• Borgund Stave Church, Norway - User:Sveter (Please credit as "Petr Šmerkl; Wikipedia" in case you use this outside WMF projects.) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo - NASA Astronauts (Public domain)
• Brunost, Norway - Unknown author (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Bryggen, Norway - Unknown author (CC BY-SA 2.5)
• Buckingham Palace, United Kingdom - Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Cambridge, United Kingdom - Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Canadian Food - Poutine and Maple, Canada - Lars Plougmann (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Chobe National Park, Botswana - Joachim Huber from Switzerland (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Congolese Cuisine, Republic of the Congo - Londonsista (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Copacabana and Ipanema, Brazil - Hmaglione10 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Day of the Dead, Mexico - Tomas Castelazo (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Dominican Cuisine, Dominican Republic - Ll1324 (CC0)
• Dubrovnik Old Town, Croatia - Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave, Austria - Unknown author (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• El Nido and Palawan, Philippines - Vyacheslav Argenberg (CC BY 4.0)
• Faroese Cuisine, Faroe Islands - Erik Christensen (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• French Guianese Cuisine, French Guiana - don_padre (CC BY 2.0)
• Gardens by the Bay, Singapore - CEphoto; Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Gediminas Tower, Lithuania - Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Golden Gate Bridge, United States - Cary Bass (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Gotland and Faro Raukar, Sweden - Jürgen Howaldt (CC BY-SA 2.0 de)
• Graceland, United States - User:Maha (CC BY 2.5)
• Grand Canyon, United States - Michael Gäbler (CC BY 3.0)
• Grand Ole Opry, United States - Daniel Schwen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Grand Teton National Park, United States - Ansel Adams (Public domain)
• Grona Lund, Sweden - Nord68) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Grossglockner High Alpine Road, Austria - Sander Hoogendoorn from Gouda; Holland (CC BY 2.0)
• Grutas Park, Lithuania - Wojsyl (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Hales Market, Lithuania - Alma Pater (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Herat Old City, Afghanistan - S.K. Vemmer (U.S. Department of State) (Public domain)
• Hill of Crosses, Lithuania - Pudelek (Marcin Szala) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Hill of Witches, Lithuania - Shinsaku (CC BY 3.0)
• Historic Bridgetown, Barbados - Postdlf (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Hobbiton, New Zealand - Tom Hall (CC BY 2.0)
• Hollywood, United States - Dietmar Rabich (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Hvar, Croatia - Adbar (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Island of Mozambique, Mozambique - Steve Evans from Bangalore; India (CC BY 2.0)
• Jemaa el-Fnaa, Morocco - procsilas (CC BY 2.0)
• Jiufen, Taiwan - Taiwankengo (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Joshua Tree National Park, United States - Tuxyso (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Kaieteur Falls, Guyana - Bill Cameron (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Kanelbulle, Sweden - Unknown author (Public domain)
• Kastelholm Castle, Åland Islands - Janneman (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Kissama National Park, Angola - Felipe Miguel from Curitiba; Brazil (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Kribi and the Lobé Falls, Cameroon - Aseret Zardep (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Krimml Waterfalls, Austria - Crunchbag (Public domain)
• Lake Malawi, Malawi - Hans Hillewaert (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Lipica Stud Farm, Slovenia - Keith Roper (CC BY 2.0)
• Liwonde National Park, Malawi - NASA (Public domain)
• Ljubljana Old Town, Slovenia - Andrew Milligan Sumo (CC BY 2.0)
• Los Roques Archipelago, Venezuela - JavierEVidalM (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark - Yo Hibino from Aichi; Japan (CC BY 2.0)
• Manila and Intramuros, Philippines - P199 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Mesa Verde National Park, United States - Gustaf Nordenskiöld; edit of en:Image:Mesa Verde - Cliff Palace in 1891.jpg by Andrew c to reduce dust/noise; and adjust (Public domain)
• Mexico City Historic Centre, Mexico - Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Mons Klint, Denmark - Ipigott (CC0)
• Montserrat, Spain - Gyrofrog (CC BY-SA 2.5)
• Monument Valley, United States - Moritz Zimmermann (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Mount Cameroon, Cameroon - Amcaja (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Mount Choungui, Mayotte - mwanasimba from La Réunion (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Mount Rainier National Park, United States - Walter Siegmund (talk) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Mount Roraima, Venezuela - Csar13 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis - Martin Falbisoner (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Ontika Klint, Estonia - Jaan Künnap (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Paella, Spain - Carlos Delgado (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Piusa Caves, Estonia - Joonas Plaan from Tallinn; Estonia (CC BY 2.0)
• Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo - Ferdinand Reus from Arnhem; Holland (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Postojna Cave, Slovenia - Irene000 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Pristina, Kosovo - Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Prizren, Kosovo - Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Queenstown, New Zealand - Avenue (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Réunion Creole Culture, Réunion - Cudenet; F. (18.-19. ; compositeur). Compositeur (Public domain)
• Riga Art Nouveau District, Latvia - Pyotr Pogorodniy (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Riga Black Balsam, Latvia - Adriao (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Riga Old Town, Latvia - PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Route 66, United States - Finetooth (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Salmiakki, Finland - Shaddack (Public domain)
• Salvadoran Cuisine, El Salvador - Marshall Astor (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Sammallahdenmaki, Finland - Roquai (Public domain)
• San Diego Zoo, United States - en:User:Cburnett (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, Finland - BishkekRocks (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Seychellois Cuisine, Seychelles - Photography by Dino Sassi - Marcel Fayon; Photo Eden LTD (Public domain)
• Shibam, Yemen - Jialiang Gao www.peace-on-earth.org [dead link] (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Skyr, Iceland - Xfigpower (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Socotra, Yemen - Unknown author (Public domain)
• Stanley, Falkland Islands - Unknown author (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Statue of Liberty, United States - William Warby (CC BY 2.0)
• Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan - Unknown author (CC BY-SA 2.0 tw)
• Sun Voyager, Iceland - Deborah Pickett (CC BY 3.0)
• Suomenlinna, Finland - Michal Pise; Michal.Pise (CC BY 2.0)
• Taï National Park, Ivory Coast - yakovlev.alexey from Moscow; Russia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Temple Bar, Ireland - psyberartist (CC BY 2.0)
• The Åland Archipelago, Åland Islands - Tonym88 at en.wikipedia (Public domain)
• The Ancient Agora of Athens, Greece - A.Savin (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Bamyan Valley, Afghanistan - Afghanistan Matters from Brunssum; Netherlands (CC BY 2.0)
• The Basilica of Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast - The original uploader was Asram at French Wikipedia. (CC BY-SA 2.5)
• The Beaches of Barbados, Barbados - Upjav (CC0)
• The Blue Mountains, Jamaica - Wolmadrian (Public domain)
• The British Museum, United Kingdom - Ham (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Burren, Ireland - Fish Cop (Public domain)
• The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Canada - Aconcagua (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Central Kalahari, Botswana - DVL2 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Chocolate Hills, Bohol, Philippines - P199 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, New Zealand - Mark Oliver Dittrich. Released into public domain on his behalf. (Public domain)
• The Freetown Peninsula Beaches, Sierra Leone - Hussein Kefel (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Getty Center, United States - Orazio Gentileschi (Public domain)
• The Giant's Causeway, United Kingdom - Chmee2 (CC BY 3.0)
• The Golden Temple, Amritsar, India - Paulrudd (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana - Spotting973 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• The Hindu Kush, Afghanistan - Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC (Public domain)
• The Îles du Salut, French Guiana - Unknown authorUnknown author (Public domain)
• The Isle of Skye, United Kingdom - Stefan Krause; Germany (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Iwokrama Rainforest, Guyana - M M from Switzerland (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• The Las Vegas Strip, United States - Matthew Field; http://www.photography.mattfield.com (CC BY 2.5)
• The Li River and Guilin, China - chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley, Andorra - Ferran Llorens (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• The Marrakech Medina, Morocco - calflier001 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• The Musandam Peninsula, Oman - Eckhard Pecher (CC BY 2.5)
• The National Palace Museum, Taiwan - CARPKAZU (Public domain)
• The Onion Road, Estonia - fdecomite (CC BY 2.0)
• The Potala Palace, Lhasa, China - Luca Galuzzi (Lucag) (CC BY-SA 2.5)
• The Pula Arena, Croatia - Orlovic (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Pyrenees of Andorra, Andorra - Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Romanesque Churches, Andorra - Fer55 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• The Ruins of Carthage, Tunisia - Szymon9 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Ruta de las Flores, El Salvador - Loco085 (CC BY-SA 2.5)
• The Sea Turtles of Mayotte, Mayotte - Kelly064 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Southeast Peninsula Beaches, Saint Kitts and Nevis - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region (Public domain)
• The Spanish-African Heritage, Equatorial Guinea - Revue Géographique Internationale (Public domain)
• The Vallée de Mai, Praslin, Seychelles - Lmulud (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The Vatican Museums, Vatican City - Andreas Tille (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Traditional Irish Music, Ireland - Yumi Kimura from Yokohama; JAPAN (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Vigeland Sculpture Park, Norway - Ignaz Wiradi (CC BY-SA 3.0 no)
• Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands - Ben Tubby (CC BY 2.0)
• Voringsfossen, Norway - Kenny Louie (CC BY 2.0)
• Yas Island, United Arab Emirates - Nepenthes (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Yemeni Cuisine, Yemen - stu_spivack (CC BY-SA 2.0)
• Zhangjiajie, China - chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0)