Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geodata Infrastructures (GDI) are on everyone's lips. GIS are information systems for capturing, processing, organizing, analyzing, and presenting geographic data, and they include the necessary hardware, software, data, and applications. This clearly written textbook not only imparts the essential theoretical and conceptual foundational knowledge of GIS but also addresses the latest developments in the field of geodata infrastructures, WebGIS, and newer Digital Earth initiatives such as Google Earth or OpenStreetMap. Additionally, the textbook discusses the significance of the European INSPIRE directive, which shapes the entire information landscape in the future Europe. Key topics of the book include: fundamentals of geo-information systems, data sources, storage, and management.