More than one billion people are using Google Earth making the map app one of the most downloadable software of all time. Google Inc. announced the milestone on Wednesday as it revealed that the free online Earth atlas is not only a useful tool for travelers.

Now who else uses Google Earth? Google Inc. has compiled stories of people who have used the interactive replica of the planet and some of them turned out to be Lara Crofts.

The user profiles in OneWorldManyStories.com, a Google Earth presentation to mark its milestone, happen to include a University of Western Australia professor who discovered ancient tombs and geoglyphs just by zooming in and out the Google Earth website. Prof. David Kennedy plotted 1,977 potential archeological sites, including 1,082 ancient stone tombs known as "pendants" in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Retracing the route of Marco Polo and Ulysses will certainly be grueling if done literally. But retired English teacher Jerome Burg did it and even took along his readers using Google Earth.

Animal conservationists from the Save the Elephants use the Internet atlas to track pachyderms and plan protective measures to the animals.

Google Earth is also being used to teach geography to children and find business locations. An American couple found their dream winery in Oregon just by consulting Google Earth.

Keyhole Inc. originally developed Google Earth in 2001 using geospatial technology. Google Inc. bought the startup in 2004 and launched it as Google Earth the following year.

"We're proud of our one billion milestone, but we're even more amazed at the way people have used Google Earth to explore the world," said Google Earth and Maps vice president of engineering and Keyhole co-founder Brian McClendon, according to AFP.