How to center Google Map on a country by name

Question

I'm using the Google Maps API (v2) and would like to center the map onload to a country (for example england).

At the moment i center the map using:

map.setCenter(new GLatLng( 43.907787,-79.359741), 9);

But this obviously requires longitude and Latitude.

Any way to do this by inserting a name of a country?

Answer 1

Turning a location name or address into a latitude/longitude like this is called geocoding. Google Maps API now includes this capability: see http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/services.html#Geocoding

They include a sample application where you can type in an address, and it does work to simply type a country name. I don't know if they are going to the exact center of the country.

Answer 2

var country = "United States"
var map = new GMap2($("#map")[0]);
map.setUIToDefault();

var geocoder = new GClientGeocoder();
geocoder.getLatLng(country, function (point) {
  if (!point) {
    // Handle error
  } else {
    map.setCenter(point, 8, G_PHYSICAL_MAP);
  }
});