History of Google Street View

History
Google Street View was introduced in the United States on May 25, 2007, and only covered areas of the United States until July 2, 2008. Images can now be seen in 48 countries, dependencies, and autonomous regions (although parts of other countries and dependencies can be seen from locations located near national borders; for example, large portions of Vatican City can be viewed from Rome's street view). Introductions have generally occurred every 2 days to 100 days. Until November 26, 2008, major cities (and early on, the only cities) were marked by camera icons, more of which were added each time. Then, all camera icons were discontinued in favor simply of "blue" coverage, while other features have been added to make access to and use of the feature more user-friendly.

On June 6, 2012, Google announced that it has captured 20 petabytes of data for Street View, comprising photos taken along 5 million miles of roads, covering 39 countries and about 3,000 cities.

Below is a table showing the countries available on Street View and the year they were first added. Plain text indicates that a country has only views of certain businesses and/or tourist attractions.

United States
The United States was the first country to have Street View images and was the only country with images for over a year following introduction. Early on, most locations had a limited number of views, usually constrained to the city limits and only including major streets. Few suburbs or other nearby cities were included. After the first few sets of introductions, image collections from cities added were more detailed, often including every side street, more suburbs and nearby cities.

Canada
In Canada, Google Street View cars had been spotted as early as September 2007, in Montreal, though service for Canada was delayed while attempting to settle with the Canadian government over its privacy laws. The first images of Canada were made available on October 7, 2009. Currently, most of Canada can be seen on Street View with the notable exceptions of Labrador, the Gaspé Peninsula and Fort McMurray, Alberta.

On February 10, 2010, many more areas of Canada (barring extremely northern and rural areas) were added. Ski runs on Whistler Blackcomb Resort were also covered in this update. As of November 28, 2012, the northernmost community currently imaged is Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and the second northernmost place in North America, after Deadhorse Airport near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Europe
In Europe, coverage is available in 23 countries, of which 16 have complete or near-complete coverage. Coverage began in Europe on July 2, 2008, with the Tour de France route in parts of France and Italy, and other parts followed, likewise Frankfurt.

Asia
In Asia, Google Street View is currently available in several parts of China, Timothy North, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Oceania
On August 4, 2008, the image collection of Australia was introduced. Extensive mapping of New Zealand was included on December 1, 2008.