diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Map.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Map.js
index 9953738693..2d8d03caad 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Map.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Map.js
@@ -23,14 +23,12 @@ OpenLayers.Map.prototype = {
     // OpenLayers.Bounds
     maxExtent: new OpenLayers.Bounds(-180, -90, 180, 90),
 
-    /* maxScale was determined empirically by finding the resolution
-       of GMaps in degrees per pixel at zoom level 0. */
-    // float
-    maxResolution: .3515625, // degrees per pixel
-
     /* projection */
     projection: "EPSG:4326",
 
+    // float
+    maxResolution: null, // degrees per pixel
+
     // DOMElement: the div that our map lives in
     div: null,
 
@@ -78,7 +76,6 @@ OpenLayers.Map.prototype = {
         this.viewPortDiv.style.position = "relative";
         this.div.appendChild(this.viewPortDiv);
 
-
         // the layerContainerDiv is the one that holds all the layers
         this.layerContainerDiv = OpenLayers.Util.createDiv(
                                 div.id + "_OpenLayers_Container" );
@@ -87,6 +84,12 @@ OpenLayers.Map.prototype = {
         this.events = new OpenLayers.Events(this, div, this.EVENT_TYPES);
 
         this.updateSize();
+        // make the entire maxExtent fix in zoom level 0 by default
+        if (this.maxResolution == null) {
+            this.maxResolution = Math.max(
+                this.maxExtent.getWidth()  / this.size.w,
+                this.maxExtent.getHeight() / this.size.h );
+        }
         // update the internal size register whenever the div is resized
         this.events.register("resize", this, this.updateSize);