Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
Top Categories > cartography
#all #programming #history #startups #technology #science #life #literature #architecture #travel #creative #design #comics #cartography #finance #AI #indiehacker Muted Categories [alt+←][alt+→]
Maps Mania
Can you Draw Europe?
9 months ago
Map of the Week
The Alphabet Railway Radio personality Bill Barry was fascinated with the place names of his native Saskatchewan. So much...
a year ago
31
a year ago
Radio personality Bill Barry was fascinated with the place names of his native Saskatchewan. So much so that he wrote a Dictionary of Saskatchewan Place Names, I'm sure you've probably read it already but an interesting item about this toponymy is how many of the towns were...
Maps Mania
Scrambled Maps on Toast
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Global Burning
a year ago
Maps Mania
Live From Space
7 months ago
Map of the Week
The Possible Collapse of Oceanic Circulation This map, via Down to Earth shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The AMOC...
8 months ago
39
8 months ago
This map, via Down to Earth shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The AMOC is like a "heat conveyor belt". It moderates temperatures on the planet by moving warmer air to northern latitudes while returning cooler air to the tropics. It has already slowed...
Maps Mania
No Local News
a month ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the History of the Railway
9 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the Barassi Line
a year ago
Maps Mania
Can You Draw America?
7 months ago
Maps Mania
The Streets of San Francisco Game
a year ago
Maps Mania
Learning Countries While Having Fun
a year ago
Transit Maps
Unofficial Maps: Two new takes on the London Underground by Kenneth Field Back in 2019, Ken showcased an experimental alternative Tube Map based on a diamond motif (read the...
a year ago
48
a year ago
Back in 2019, Ken showcased an experimental alternative Tube Map based on a diamond motif (read the Transit Maps review here) that had mixed reactions from the community. He went away and absorbed that feedback, and – like a glutton for punishment – he’s back with not one, but...
Maps Mania
The AI Music Map
8 months ago
Maps Mania
The Live Amtrak Train Map
a year ago
Maps Mania
The 2023 Polish Election
a year ago
Maps Mania
The American Election & the Rest of the World
2 months ago
Maps Mania
Find Your Nearest Hurricane
6 months ago
Maps Mania
25 Cities
11 months ago
Adventures In...
Women in GIS Workshop If you aren’t doing anything else on the allotted 2.5 hours of January 24, 2025, then consider...
3 days ago
6
3 days ago
If you aren’t doing anything else on the allotted 2.5 hours of January 24, 2025, then consider tuning in to this Women in GIS workshop where I’ll share the process (and all the data and documents) for making this migration map. The cost is free, unless you count the 2.5 hours of...
Maps Mania
Geoengineering Planet Earth
a year ago
Adventures In...
How to Make this Animated Map of Blue Whale Migration I have a deep admiration for the stirrings inside animals that drive them to undertake...
a year ago
20
a year ago
I have a deep admiration for the stirrings inside animals that drive them to undertake thousands-of-miles journeys to far flung locations, and back, in concert with the passage of the our earth around its sun. I’ve reflected on it in writing what became a surprisingly...
Musings on Maps
Perilous Waters The voyage to the Titanic promoted cartographic fantasies of discovery and exploration, but only in...
a year ago
40
a year ago
The voyage to the Titanic promoted cartographic fantasies of discovery and exploration, but only in international waters. The maps of legal oversight Stockton Rush avoided demand to be recognized as a creation of globalism, as much as a luxury diversion of the super-rich. ...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 6 (Houston) The heat really cranked up as we entered Texas, never dropping below a daily high of 100° Fahrenheit...
a year ago
44
a year ago
The heat really cranked up as we entered Texas, never dropping below a daily high of 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius). Here my hybrid working vacation transitioned completely to pure work for a day. That’s where I needed to attend meetings at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston...
Maps Mania
Chronotube
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 5 (University Loop) This was another early morning start although not as early as some of the others. We wouldn’t need...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
This was another early morning start although not as early as some of the others. We wouldn’t need to drive very far anymore now that we’d settled into our temporary home in Lewiston, Idaho for four nights in a row. The Washington Race Sunrise came quickly and we soon found...
Maps Mania
Mapping 3D Game Worlds
a year ago
Map of the Week
30 Day Map Challenge 2024-Part 2 Here is the second half of the 30 Day Map Challenge. The one where I don’t make anything but just...
2 weeks ago
13
2 weeks ago
Here is the second half of the 30 Day Map Challenge. The one where I don’t make anything but just sit back and enjoy the work of others. The first half of the month was reviewed here. I will start on Day 23 where the prompt was memory. There were quite a few good entries for this...
Maps Mania
Your Urban Heat Island Score
5 months ago
Maps Mania
The Retro Gamer's Map
5 months ago
Map of the Week
Philadelphia Bookstore Map Note: As September comes to a close so does Philadelphia month. There will be a couple more posts...
a year ago
18
a year ago
Note: As September comes to a close so does Philadelphia month. There will be a couple more posts today and tomorrow before I return to my normal weekly schedule. This one is personal. Several years ago I was working with a Philly-based computer programmer and an artist to create...
Map of the Week
New Orleans Slave Revolt Despite what some officials in Florida want to teach, not all enslaved people appreciated the job...
10 months ago
44
10 months ago
Despite what some officials in Florida want to teach, not all enslaved people appreciated the job training they were getting from their benevolent overseers. In fact there were numerous rebellions. The largest one was in 1811 outside of New Orleans.  The map above is from a...
Maps Mania
The Best Real-Time Subway Maps
a year ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Historical Map: Duluth Transit Authority, 1982 Submitted by Darryl, who says: Going through old boxes in my basement, I came across this 1982 opus...
a month ago
28
a month ago
Submitted by Darryl, who says: Going through old boxes in my basement, I came across this 1982 opus from the Duluth Transit Authority. I may be biased because it’s the first transit map I ever saw, but I think it’s amazing, capturing the way the city nestles into the topography,...
Maps Mania
Reconstructing a Plane Crash
11 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Power Outages in Kiev
4 months ago
Maps Mania
A Year of Wildfires
a year ago
Adventures In...
Three Maps & the Truth You may have heard that “all maps lie” and that’s right (also, here’s some required reading). Each...
a week ago
20
a week ago
You may have heard that “all maps lie” and that’s right (also, here’s some required reading). Each map is a collection of compromises, whether they’re geomatic (your projection and scale choices), editorial (your choice of subject and what you’ve chosen to show and not show), and...
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Tramways in Gdańsk, Poland by Arsen Mosiichuk, 2024 Submitted by Arsen, who says: Hello, this summer I with Sergey Steblina as art-director designed a...
4 days ago
6
4 days ago
Submitted by Arsen, who says: Hello, this summer I with Sergey Steblina as art-director designed a transit map of Gdańsk trams. I am very interested what Transit Maps think about this. Transit Maps says: Overall, this is very solid and clean work – very much in the style of...
Maps Mania
Cinematic Mapping
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 9 (Postscript: Brew It) This is it, the final stop on the Asia-Pacific series, and this one is especially for me. I always...
a year ago
64
a year ago
This is it, the final stop on the Asia-Pacific series, and this one is especially for me. I always have mixed feelings about the brewery articles because they’re rather self-indulgent. So viewers should feel free to skip past this one and wait until the next series begins because...
Transit Maps
New Official Map: San Francisco Muni Metro Map with Central Subway This map has actually been out for a while, but today – celebrating the full opening of the Central...
a year ago
47
a year ago
This map has actually been out for a while, but today – celebrating the full opening of the Central Subway – seemed like the appropriate day to post about it. Design-wise, this is very much an evolution of previous efforts (see my review of the post-COVID resumption of service...
Adventures In...
Vignettes for the Win! A vignette is a darkening (or lightening) of the edges of a composition, to subtly frame it and draw...
a month ago
28
a month ago
A vignette is a darkening (or lightening) of the edges of a composition, to subtly frame it and draw the eye in to the middle. It’s an old photographer’s darkroom trick. Lucky for us, I’ve spent many hours in the darkroom and have grown to appreciate the charm and effectiveness...
Maps Mania
Live from the Sundhnúkur Eruption
8 months ago
Maps Mania
Virtual Indian Independence Day
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Planning for the Next Eclipse Maybe you saw Monday's eclipse and were impressed enough to want to travel to see another one or...
8 months ago
51
8 months ago
Maybe you saw Monday's eclipse and were impressed enough to want to travel to see another one or maybe you missed it because life got in the way or you couldn't justify the time and expense of travel. Or, maybe you're like me and foolishly traveled to Rochester, New York where...
Maps Mania
Tracking American Spies in Germany
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Electrical Japan
a year ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the Colors of Autumn
a year ago
Maps Mania
Tokyo Live
a year ago
Adventures In...
Layout sandwich Here’s how to make an ArcGIS Pro layout where certain elements of the map step over the neatline and...
a year ago
23
a year ago
Here’s how to make an ArcGIS Pro layout where certain elements of the map step over the neatline and the graticule is relegated only to the oceans. Because that looks cool! Mapping has a long and handsome history of neatlines that are interrupted by bits of land spilling over it,...
Maps Mania
Mapping the Drift-backing of Refugees
11 months ago
Maps Mania
How Smooth is the Earth?
3 months ago
Maps Mania
US Car Fatality Hotspots
a year ago
Maps Mania
Tranquil Walking Directions
a month ago
Maps Mania
Vintage Street View Imagery
a month ago
GeoCurrents
Fernand Braudel: The Greatest Geographer of the Twentieth Century? [Today’s post is the text of an oral presentation that I recently gave at a Stanford-Berkeley...
a week ago
9
a week ago
[Today’s post is the text of an oral presentation that I recently gave at a Stanford-Berkeley Symposium on the legacy of the French historian Fernand Braudel.] In 1981, I entered the graduate program in geography at U.C. Berkeley and found myself in a war zone. The traditionalist...
Map of the Week
The Lost Subways of North America A new book by Jake Berman, The Lost Subways of North America explores the history of unbuilt and...
11 months ago
30
11 months ago
A new book by Jake Berman, The Lost Subways of North America explores the history of unbuilt and discontinued transit in 23 cities in the United States and Canada. Mexico is not included because "Mexico's urban history is so unlike that of the United States and Canada."  Cities...
Maps Mania
Mappy Races
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Worldwide Breaking News Map
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Trains, Balloons and Automobiles
5 months ago
Maps Mania
The Ring of Rain
a year ago
Maps Mania
Alternatives to Google Maps Street View
a year ago
Maps Mania
OpenFreeMap Map Styles
2 months ago
Maps Mania
The Lost Pathfinder Game
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Unlocking America’s Visual Time Machine
a year ago
Adventures In...
Thoughts on the Cartographer’s Role in an AI Future A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10...
10 months ago
59
10 months ago
A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10 years.” Here’s my somewhat off-the-cuff response, though my thoughts have been steeping in this for the past year or so. In the next 10 years artificial intelligence, and probably...
Maps Mania
NYC's Subway Stories
a month ago
Transit Maps
Official Map: C-TRAN Bus Network, Vancouver, Washington, October 2023 Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Transit Maps has never taken a look at the map for Portland’s...
a year ago
19
a year ago
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Transit Maps has never taken a look at the map for Portland’s northern neighbour, the (original) Vancouver. With the recent addition of their second “The Vine” BRT route along Mill Plain Boulevard, now seems like a good time. At first glance, it...
Maps Mania
Mapping Gaza's Destroyed Buildings
10 months ago
Maps Mania
Out of Africa - The Story of Human Migration
6 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Arendal Region Transit Map, Norway by Hazael Hi! I made this transit diagram myself. I saw there was no “real” map with all the stations for the...
3 months ago
46
3 months ago
Hi! I made this transit diagram myself. I saw there was no “real” map with all the stations for the region of Arendal in Norway, so I decided to do this project. I would love to read your comments and criticisms! Transit Maps says: There’s a lot to like about this diagram – a...
Maps Mania
A Total Scrolly Eclipse
9 months ago
Maps Mania
Is it too hot for the Tour de France?
a year ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the Route of the Adriana Disaster
a year ago
Adventures In...
Close Encounters of the Cartographic Kind I was watching the Steven Spielberg 1977 classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the...
7 months ago
89
7 months ago
I was watching the Steven Spielberg 1977 classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the family last night and nerded out when I saw a character that claimed to be a cartographer. I always do. It was the cartographer who recognized that the signals the aliens sent were...
GeoCurrents
Hope and Peril in Somaliland As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post, the incoming Trump administration is considering the...
3 hours ago
2
3 hours ago
As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post, the incoming Trump administration is considering the recognition of the hitherto unrecognized state of Somaliland, which seceded from Somalia in 1991. On the diplomatic front, Somaliland’s position is looking increasingly promising. Its...
Map of the Week
The Ferraris Atlas of Belgium While I was at the British Library in May, I spent much time admiring and puzzling over this...
2 months ago
41
2 months ago
While I was at the British Library in May, I spent much time admiring and puzzling over this atlas. The Ferraris maps of the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) were created by Count (and cartographer) Joseph de Ferraris in the 1770's. He was commissioned by Austrian empress...
Maps Mania
Mapping Water Scarcity
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 4 (Japan: Exploring Tokyo) Sure, the tourists sites were great, but Twelve Mile Circle readers know I like to follow tangents...
a year ago
46
a year ago
Sure, the tourists sites were great, but Twelve Mile Circle readers know I like to follow tangents even when I do that. I’m always on the hunt for the unusual, or at least the unusual to me. I’m sure everything seemed perfectly normal to anyone from Japan. So I made sure I...
Maps Mania
The History of New York
a month ago
Adventures In...
Add Multiple Maps to One Layout Of course Alaska and Hawaii are glorious places, beloved by all for their lovely inhabitants and...
3 months ago
54
3 months ago
Of course Alaska and Hawaii are glorious places, beloved by all for their lovely inhabitants and majestic natural environs. It would be an error of omission should they not appear in a map of the United States, but it would also be a shame to shoe-horn them in looking sad with an...
Maps Mania
Mapping the Great Kantō Earthquake
a year ago
GeoCurrents
Wikipedia’s Visually Striking but Inaccurate Cartograms of U.S. Presidential Elections When preparing the illustrations for my current lecture course on the historical geography of U.S....
a month ago
5
a month ago
When preparing the illustrations for my current lecture course on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections, I was thrilled to discover that Wikipedia’s articles on most of these elections are illustrated with visually striking cartograms of the results, mapped at...
Map of the Week
Lenapehoking-The Delaware Watershed A more modern take on last week's Coaquannock map, Lenapehoking is a map of the Delaware Watershed's...
a year ago
12
a year ago
A more modern take on last week's Coaquannock map, Lenapehoking is a map of the Delaware Watershed's natural environment. The title means land of the Lenape people. The map was created by Illustrator Meg Lemieur and is available on Etsy. The map is beautifully illustrated with...
Maps Mania
The First Images from EUMETSAT MTG-I1
a year ago
Maps Mania
The World Map of Podcasts
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Indoor CO2 Map
4 months ago
Transit Maps
Official Map: Newark International Airport Regional Rail Connections, 2023 Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is...
a year ago
82
a year ago
Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is scratch my head and ponder, “Just why?” This is one of those maps. Produced by (or on behalf of) Newark International Airport, it purports to show regional rail services that you...
Musings on Maps
Along Narnia’s Enchanted Shores As we face an age when the norms of legal conduct in the United States stand to be shredded, we have...
3 weeks ago
23
3 weeks ago
As we face an age when the norms of legal conduct in the United States stand to be shredded, we have been suggested to benefit from looking, both for perspective and solace, if only for relief, to fantasy literature as … Continue reading →
Maps Mania
The World is Getting Hotter
a year ago
Maps Mania
Europeans Profiting from American Deaths
5 months ago
Maps Mania
A Map of the World's Deadliest Epidemics
a year ago
Maps Mania
The AI Satlas
a year ago
Transit Maps
Submission – BART “Heat Map” by Harsha Devulapalli Submitted by Harsha, who says: I’ve been a big fan of your blog for over a decade. Recently, I had...
4 months ago
54
4 months ago
Submitted by Harsha, who says: I’ve been a big fan of your blog for over a decade. Recently, I had the opportunity to replicate the BART transit map for a data visualization in a story I wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Transit Maps...
Map of the Week
Middle Earth Transit Map Hard to believe that those dumb hobbits risked their lives walking all the way to Mordor when they...
7 months ago
87
7 months ago
Hard to believe that those dumb hobbits risked their lives walking all the way to Mordor when they could have just taken the Orange Line.  Oh wait, the tunnel under the mountain is closed  so they would have had to switch to the Red Line at Bree and then made another...
Map of the Week
Icelandic Glacier Web Portal This web portal is a collaborative effort by Icelandic institutes, agencies, companies, societies...
a year ago
20
a year ago
This web portal is a collaborative effort by Icelandic institutes, agencies, companies, societies and private persons to display an overview of glaciological research and variations of Icelandic glaciers. The portal provides access to measurements, observations and photographs...
Map of the Week
The Coaquannock Map I will begin Philadelphia month at an early stage, just before European settlement. via...
a year ago
15
a year ago
I will begin Philadelphia month at an early stage, just before European settlement. via Historical Society of Pennsylvania This 1934 map showing the homeland of the Lenape people when the first white settlers arrived in Philadelphia, was funded by the Works Progress...
somethingaboutmaps
The Dream Lives I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you...
a month ago
24
a month ago
I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you can support by giving me money. And I promise I’ll get back to less commercial musings as time goes on. But for now, I also want to alert you to a way you can give other people...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Union Pacific Annual Report Map, 1980 Here’s an absolutely cracking diagrammatic map that appeared as a fold-out sheet in Union Pacific...
4 months ago
60
4 months ago
Here’s an absolutely cracking diagrammatic map that appeared as a fold-out sheet in Union Pacific annual reports from about 1978 through 1981, maybe slightly longer. I first saw this as a photograph of a partial part of the map, but it didn’t take me too long to find the whole...
Transit Maps
New Official Map: Los Angeles Metro with Regional Connector, 2023 Just dropped on the LA Metro Twitter account, here’s a first look at their new system map once the...
a year ago
64
a year ago
Just dropped on the LA Metro Twitter account, here’s a first look at their new system map once the Regional Connector opens at noon, this Friday June 16. First off, one prediction I made in my previous review [October 2022] has been proven true: this map marks the end of the old...
James Cheshire
Newspapers and the 1976 Drought With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase:...
over a year ago
35
over a year ago
With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase: ‘it was this hot in 1976’. Of course it wasn’t, and crucially the planet overall was not as hot then as it is now. Parts of the UK media have had their part to play in fueling...
Adventures In...
How to Make Features Illuminate an Underlying Basemap Sure, we can make features look like they are glowing. But how can we make them look like they are...
a year ago
14
a year ago
Sure, we can make features look like they are glowing. But how can we make them look like they are casting light on the basemap below? Here’s a silly little trick using crafty symbology and blend modes in ArcGIS Pro. In this case we’ll use glorious stork migration paths,...
Maps Mania
The most mis-mapped US states
9 months ago
Maps Mania
The World's Bioregions & Ecosystems Mapped
a year ago
Map of the Week
The Liverpool Overhead Railway I found this cool strip map of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the first elevated electric railway...
a year ago
21
a year ago
I found this cool strip map of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the first elevated electric railway in the world. It opened in 1893 and was dismantled in 1957 because the company could not afford to make the necessary repairs. This map is dated "c1938". via Flickr According...
Maps Mania
Visit Barcelona Without Going Abroad
a year ago
Maps Mania
The A-Z Music Map
2 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Greater Copenhagen Rail Map, 2024 Submitted by Jakob, who says: The M4 branch extension to Copenhagen South has just opened, and with...
4 months ago
52
4 months ago
Submitted by Jakob, who says: The M4 branch extension to Copenhagen South has just opened, and with it, a much improved map compared to 2019 [My review of the 2019 map can be found here – Cam]. The Circle Line is now more spacious, junctions are labeled more clearly, and metro...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 11 (What’s Brewing?) Twelve Mile Circle readers don’t really care about my brewery visits. I get it. You won’t offend me...
over a year ago
47
over a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle readers don’t really care about my brewery visits. I get it. You won’t offend me if you skip this article or scroll through the pictures without reading anything. I really do this more for myself to create a record of my visits that extend beyond the simplicity...
Maps Mania
The Joy-Plot Map of Europe
2 weeks ago
GeoCurrents
Will the United States Recognize Somaliland as Somalia Continued to Devolve? Recent reports claim that the incoming Trump administration is considering giving diplomatic...
2 days ago
16
2 days ago
Recent reports claim that the incoming Trump administration is considering giving diplomatic recognition to Somaliland, a de facto independent state that broke away from the wreckage of Somalia in 1991. Republican representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania has already introduced...
Musings on Maps
“We Like Fighting Games” As he waited rather glumly for “the Feds” to arrive at his home, as his stepfather predicted, Airman...
a year ago
49
a year ago
As he waited rather glumly for “the Feds” to arrive at his home, as his stepfather predicted, Airman First Class Jack Douglas Teixiera may have pondered why he had posted classified maps of heated battle fronts in the Ukraine War … Continue reading →
Map of the Week
Map Failbruary Challenge Days 15-28 Here is the second half of the #MapFailbruaryChallenge. For the first half and explanations...
a year ago
23
a year ago
Here is the second half of the #MapFailbruaryChallenge. For the first half and explanations see here. Here are the categories, again with minimal commentary.   Day 15 - You do not need to know geography to be a cartographer Day 16 - Not safe for work Day 17 - Not enough or...
Maps Mania
The Riskiest Places to Live in America
5 months ago
Maps Mania
The Newest Maps of Mars - in 3D
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Locking Up Louisiana
a year ago
Map of the Week
MapFailbruary Challenge Days 1-14 Those of you who follow me on my Twitter and Mastodon feeds know that I spent February doing yet...
a year ago
30
a year ago
Those of you who follow me on my Twitter and Mastodon feeds know that I spent February doing yet another map challenge. Like November’s 30 Day Map Challenge, only this one encourages you to fail. The #mapfail hashtag is popular and somewhat contentious among cartographers....
Adventures In...
Storybook Cartography ArcGIS Pro is a serious tool for serious GIS analysis. Are you ready for some seriously charming...
a year ago
48
a year ago
ArcGIS Pro is a serious tool for serious GIS analysis. Are you ready for some seriously charming illustration style cartography? Ok! . . Children’s maps are a valuable thing. They are often the first impressions the world of geography has on every single one of us. What an...
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Brussels S-Train by Elliot H Submitted by Elliot, who says: I’ve come across this blog a couple of months ago, and have been...
a year ago
37
a year ago
Submitted by Elliot, who says: I’ve come across this blog a couple of months ago, and have been lurking ever since. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at designing a trasit diagram, and having gotten some free time, I decided to redesign the S-Train diagram for Brussels. So here...
Maps Mania
Mapping the Growth of America
a year ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Tram and Busways of Casablanca, Morocco, 2024 Submitted by Leo, who says: On September 24, the Casablanca tramway network nearly doubled in length...
2 months ago
42
2 months ago
Submitted by Leo, who says: On September 24, the Casablanca tramway network nearly doubled in length with the opening of T3 and T4. The Casatramway network, operated by RATP, is depicted in the new map alongside the Casabusway BRT lines currently under construction. The map...
Map of the Week
Seoul Maps I found this nice collection of maps of Seoul, South Korea's largest city and capital from...
a year ago
17
a year ago
I found this nice collection of maps of Seoul, South Korea's largest city and capital from theSEOULlive. This is a website/magazine of Korean culture that "focuses on unraveling the hidden jewels of Seoul that can only be found with rumination."  Unfortunately these maps are...
Maps Mania
GeoGuessr for Video Games
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 2 (Oahu: Beyond Waikiki) I didn’t spend all of my limited time strictly within the confines of Waikiki Beach and downtown...
a year ago
44
a year ago
I didn’t spend all of my limited time strictly within the confines of Waikiki Beach and downtown Honolulu. Whether work-related or during precious spare time I did explore more of southeastern Oahu than I had on my previous trip. Unfortunately I couldn’t linger much and truly...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
From Skyline to Valley A family friend had a big round-number birthday recently and we drove down to Central Virginia for...
over a year ago
30
over a year ago
A family friend had a big round-number birthday recently and we drove down to Central Virginia for the celebration. Meanwhile, I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to add to my various travel lists so I wondered how might I combine the two. I thought about county counting...
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Long Island Rail Road Screen Maps at Grand Central Madison Submitted by Griffin, who says: I work upstairs in the old Grand Central and was every excited to...
a year ago
49
a year ago
Submitted by Griffin, who says: I work upstairs in the old Grand Central and was every excited to check out the new station this morning. Spotted this new map on the wall down there, thought you might find it interesting. Transit Maps says: Oh, I do like this. Graphically strong...
Maps Mania
Racial Covenants in Santa Clara Properties
2 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Moving Borders in Real-Time
3 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 2 (In the Shadow of the Volcano) We landed at Juan Santamaría airport in San José on a Friday afternoon, clearing Immigration and...
a year ago
25
a year ago
We landed at Juan Santamaría airport in San José on a Friday afternoon, clearing Immigration and Customs nearly effortlessly. Then we got a taste of rush hour traffic riding on the shuttle to retrieve our rental car. Driving conditions became a lot more difficult later in the...
Maps Mania
How Long Will You Live?
11 months ago
Maps Mania
Whose Plaque is it Anyway?
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Aboriginal Melbourne
a year ago
Maps Mania
Canada's Hidden Subterranean Rivers
8 months ago
Maps Mania
The Global Birdspotting Map
a year ago
Adventures In...
Dashing Maps There are lots of reasons why cartographers use dashed lines in their maps. Sometimes there are a...
a month ago
31
a month ago
There are lots of reasons why cartographers use dashed lines in their maps. Sometimes there are a lot of different sorts of lines going around and it’s the best way to differentiate between different categories of things. Or we can embed meaning into them, like a dashed line...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 7 (On To Monteverde) Next we began our trek to Monteverde, into Costa Rica’s famed Cloud Forest. This is one of the...
a year ago
11
a year ago
Next we began our trek to Monteverde, into Costa Rica’s famed Cloud Forest. This is one of the nation’s smallest microclimates and one of its most intriguing. High in the mountains, a thick blanket of fog frequently envelopes the landscape and creates a gentile moisture. A steady...
Transit Maps
Project: My UTA Rail and BRT Design Exploration I teased this in yesterday’s review of the new official UTA diagram, so here’s my exploration of a...
a year ago
35
a year ago
I teased this in yesterday’s review of the new official UTA diagram, so here’s my exploration of a few design ideas for an alternative version. As always with this type of project, I look for ways to approach the design problems for the diagram that are intentionally different to...
Maps Mania
Do You Live in 15 Minute City?
a week ago
Maps Mania
GeoGuessr for Art
8 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Every US Election Since 1840
2 months ago
GeoCurrents
New Lectures on U.S. Presidential Elections Posted on YouTube Several new  lectures on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections have been posted on...
a month ago
5
a month ago
Several new  lectures on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections have been posted on the GeoCurrents YouTube channel.  The most recently posted lecture covers elections from 1880 to 1992. These lectures include many maps, some which are analyzed in detail, down to...
Maps Mania
Destroying People's Homes in Gaza
a year ago
Maps Mania
You Are HERE
2 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
2024 Freelance Rate Survey Results Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer...
2 months ago
38
2 months ago
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer rates and business practices! Our apologies for the delay in posting the results; life has been busy for both Aly and myself. Before we get to the survey results, here are some handy...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 9 (Atypical London) Before we left on our trip to England I promised everyone in the family that we would visit at least...
4 months ago
49
4 months ago
Before we left on our trip to England I promised everyone in the family that we would visit at least one thing they absolutely wanted to see. We completed that for the younger kid at Tankfest. Two more bucket list destinations happened during our first full day in London. We’re...
Map of the Week
The Film Industry's Nine Dash Line Problem This summer's hit movie Barbie has been banned in Vietnam for its portrayal of the Nine Dash Line on...
a year ago
8
a year ago
This summer's hit movie Barbie has been banned in Vietnam for its portrayal of the Nine Dash Line on a world map. Note: I have not (yet) seen any of the movies or shows listed below. This line represents China's claims in the South China Sea. These claims have been rejected by...
Map of the Week
If Mars Were on Earth This image of the surface of Mars was released last Spring as part of the Atlas of Mars. Images were...
8 months ago
38
8 months ago
This image of the surface of Mars was released last Spring as part of the Atlas of Mars. Images were compiled from the Emirates Mars Mission "Hope", an approximately two year mission in that began orbiting the planet in 2021. via New York Times  Some remarkably detailed...
Maps Mania
Making Animated Map GIFs
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Virtual Tour Maker
a year ago
Maps Mania
Intelligent Directions
a year ago
Maps Mania
Tracking Satellites in 3D
2 months ago
Maps Mania
The World's Population in 3D
a year ago
Maps Mania
The US Foreign Assistance Map
8 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Thoughts on Practical Cartographic Education While I have not conducted a formal survey, I think I have the right impression when I say that most...
over a year ago
50
over a year ago
While I have not conducted a formal survey, I think I have the right impression when I say that most university cartography courses, at least in the United States, are taught by people whose primary job (when they are not teaching) is not the regular production of maps. These...
Maps Mania
The Spanish Wealth Divide
a year ago
GeoCurrents
Changing Correlations Between Income and Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections, 2016-2020 In 2009, Andrew Gelman published a fascinating and informative book called Red State Blue State Rich...
2 months ago
4
2 months ago
In 2009, Andrew Gelman published a fascinating and informative book called Red State Blue State Rich State Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do. Gelman’s main thesis was nicely summarized by Leo Carey in The New Yorker: “Andrew Gelman persuasively argues that the poor...
Maps Mania
Guess Where You Are
2 months ago
Maps Mania
The SpaceX Starlink Map
8 months ago
Maps Mania
Global Heating
a year ago
Maps Mania
The 2024 UK General Election Map
5 months ago
Adventures In...
5 Minutes to Make a Map! We’ve all been there. A request comes in and you don’t have a lot of time. Like 5 or 10 minutes....
10 months ago
69
10 months ago
We’ve all been there. A request comes in and you don’t have a lot of time. Like 5 or 10 minutes. What! Ok, ok, be cool, this is going to be ok. Just breathe…and think. Think. Yes, we’ve got this. We’ve got the tools and the resources to crank out a serviceable map in the amount …
Maps Mania
Guess This City - Daily Challenge
7 months ago
Maps Mania
US Segregation Maps
2 weeks ago
GeoCurrents
Lectures on Psychoactive Substances Available on YouTube Dear Readers, I have now posted all 21 video lectures of the GeoCurrents series on the Historical...
3 months ago
4
3 months ago
Dear Readers, I have now posted all 21 video lectures of the GeoCurrents series on the Historical Geography of Natural Psychoactive Substances, which can be found here. Each lecture is illustrated with maps, diagrams, photographs, and so on. Most are roughly one hour in length....
Maps Mania
Explore the World in 3D
a year ago
Adventures In...
Detect and measure wildfires with Sentinel-1 Explorer Our human visual systems collect light from a pretty narrow slice of the electromagnetic spectrum....
4 months ago
52
4 months ago
Our human visual systems collect light from a pretty narrow slice of the electromagnetic spectrum. But there is so much more light to see. Radar systems use photons with much longer wavelengths that can break through clouds and smoke, and because the energy is sent from the...
Maps Mania
A Cool, Shady Spot with a Breeze
a year ago
Maps Mania
Not Everyone Commutes by Car
9 months ago
Maps Mania
The US Road Fatality Map
4 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 2 (Walla Walla to Pendleton) We awoke in Walla Walla at the beginning of our first full day. We couldn’t check-in at our...
2 months ago
26
2 months ago
We awoke in Walla Walla at the beginning of our first full day. We couldn’t check-in at our accommodations in Pendleton, Oregon until mid-afternoon and the drive would only take about an hour. So we needed to find something we could do locally and we got another chance to explore...
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Map at Bergenline Avenue Station Submitted by Kara, who says: At the (extremely cool) Bergenline Avenue station, [my partner and I]...
a year ago
32
a year ago
Submitted by Kara, who says: At the (extremely cool) Bergenline Avenue station, [my partner and I] stumbled across this official map that I’d never seen before, depicting both the HBLR and the PATH! It was actually all over that station, and it’s definitely a relatively old map,...
Map of the Week
A Blue Map of China This past weekend I finally got to the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library to see...
3 months ago
47
3 months ago
This past weekend I finally got to the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library to see their exhibit, Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of China on one of its final days. Yes, I should have visited months ago when I could have encouraged readers to see it but though they...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Graduated It seemed like just yesterday that Twelve Mile Circle chronicled the kid who designed an imaginary...
7 months ago
90
7 months ago
It seemed like just yesterday that Twelve Mile Circle chronicled the kid who designed an imaginary town and counted various forms of transportation. Now my elementary aged student is all grown up, a newly-minted university graduate. Those interceding years passed much more...
Maps Mania
The Kessler Syndrome
a year ago
Map of the Week
America's Garden Capital I have more way more items to post for Philadelphia month than there are weeks left so in the next...
a year ago
15
a year ago
I have more way more items to post for Philadelphia month than there are weeks left so in the next few weeks I will be doing some extra postings, and a few minor notes thrown in like this one. Did you know that Philadelphia is America’s Garden Capital? A bit of local boosterism...
Maps Mania
The US Heat Risk Map
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Tracking Russia's 'Dark' Shadow Ships
3 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Another Atlas of Minor Projects A few years ago, I compiled a PDF of various small odds-and-ends mapping projects that I’d done....
10 months ago
77
10 months ago
A few years ago, I compiled a PDF of various small odds-and-ends mapping projects that I’d done. Now, I’ve done it again. Please enjoy Another Atlas of Minor Projects, which houses a few dozen cartographic items that needed a home. These are all small, mostly-quick projects that...
Maps Mania
Inside the Tombs & Pyramids of Egypt
a year ago
Maps Mania
Mapping 1,001 American Novels
a year ago
Maps Mania
Spikkin Scots
8 months ago
Maps Mania
The Dawn Chorus Map of Birds
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The World's Largest Snow Dome
a year ago
Maps Mania
Segregation in the U.S.
7 months ago
Adventures In...
Tolkien Style Maps in a GIS: part 4, Assembly “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” In this 4-part series...
10 months ago
54
10 months ago
“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” In this 4-part series we’ll walk through the reckoning of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy map, right in ArcGIS Pro. We map-makers get to breathe honest to goodness geographic life into the seminal...
Maps Mania
US Military Bases Around the World
a year ago
Maps Mania
Where Immigrants are Settling
5 months ago
Map of the Week
Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade In response to last week's Black Atlantic post, a reader directed me to the Atlas of the...
10 months ago
44
10 months ago
In response to last week's Black Atlantic post, a reader directed me to the Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The Atlas has a companion site,  Echoes: the SlaveVoyages Blog where you can browse through an impressive array of maps produced for the Atlas. Here are the major...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 4 (Bristol) In retrospect we probably should have done this as an overnight trip. As we soon learned, there’s no...
5 months ago
57
5 months ago
In retrospect we probably should have done this as an overnight trip. As we soon learned, there’s no fast, direct way to drive from Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck to Bristol (map). Google says it should take a couple of hours in optimal conditions which sounds doable, if a bit slow....
Maps Mania
Global Climate Change Impacts
9 months ago
Maps Mania
The October Solar Eclipse Map
a year ago
Transit Maps
Book Review: “Iconic Transit Maps” by Mark Ovenden, 2024 After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is...
6 days ago
14
6 days ago
After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is Mark Ovenden’s third offering on the subject of global transit maps and diagrams. The question to be asked, then, is simply – is a new book on the same subject worth it? In a...
Maps Mania
Playing Placename Detective
8 months ago
Map of the Week
The Salt Front The salt front is the point where a river becomes too salty to be safe for drinking water. The front...
3 weeks ago
19
3 weeks ago
The salt front is the point where a river becomes too salty to be safe for drinking water. The front moves upstream from the river’s mouth as less freshwater flows downstream to dilute it. I’d never heard of a salt front until I read about it in a recent article in...
Maps Mania
200 Years of Irish Map
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Ice Flows in Greenland The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s...
a week ago
14
a week ago
The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s climate and demographics that are largely hidden to the naked eye. I never got a chance to review it but was recently struck by this visualization. A detailed description of the...
Maps Mania
Sea Level Rise Maps
a year ago
Map of the Week
The Atlas of Design, Volume 7 Note to readers on this platform: I also publish this blog on Substack. You may find that the...
2 months ago
35
2 months ago
Note to readers on this platform: I also publish this blog on Substack. You may find that the pictures below show up a little better than here. The Atlas of Design is a biannual production of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS). It highlights some of the...
GeoCurrents
U.S. Presidential Election Lecture Series Completed The GeoCurrents lecture series on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections has been...
a week ago
12
a week ago
The GeoCurrents lecture series on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections has been completed. The series itself can be found here. The final lecture, which covers only the election of 2024, can be found here. The next GeoCurrents lecture series will be on global...
Maps Mania
Real-Time Radiation Maps
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Map of Endangered Languages - Part 2 Last week's post showed a huge number of indigenous languages throughout the world. Here is a...
11 months ago
33
11 months ago
Last week's post showed a huge number of indigenous languages throughout the world. Here is a summary (via the Living Tongues Institute) showing hotspots of endangered languages. The above site has a companion living dictionaries site where you can find a language by...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Diagram of Passenger Stations in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, 1928 There’s a lot to like about this simple little track diagram of Sydney’s rail system from 1928....
4 months ago
49
4 months ago
There’s a lot to like about this simple little track diagram of Sydney’s rail system from 1928. There’s a lot of different angles – both with route lines and station labels – but it still manages to hang together as a coherent whole. A big part of that is the dead straight...
Maps Mania
The Map of Roman Amphitheaters
a year ago
Maps Mania
Where Might I Live?
a year ago
Map of the Week
Map of Endangered Languages Languages become endangered when parents teach a more dominant language to their children. This...
11 months ago
29
11 months ago
Languages become endangered when parents teach a more dominant language to their children. This clickable map can be found on Ethnologue, a language reference guide and a good place to spend part of this International Decade of Indigenous Languages.  Hover over a language to see...
Maps Mania
The U.S. Supermarket Wars
2 months ago
Maps Mania
The Map of Reddit Now Has Street View
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Presidential Medal of Cartography
4 months ago
Maps Mania
540 Million Years of Planet Earth
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Tory Candidates Violently Attacked
5 months ago
Maps Mania
The Game of the World
a year ago
Map of the Week
Summer Light Reading 2024 Here is another installment of what is becoming an annual summer tradition. Just like the light...
4 months ago
45
4 months ago
Here is another installment of what is becoming an annual summer tradition. Just like the light beach reading, here is some light map reading. Not much to comment about, just some maps and related items I like. First of all since the Olympics are in Paris, a nice papercut map you...
Map of the Week
Pittsburgh Week This week I am attending the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) meeting in...
a year ago
45
a year ago
This week I am attending the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) meeting in Pittsburgh so I haven't had time for a proper blog post. There's lots of great stuff here that may make for future blog posts but in the meantime here are a few random maps I've come...
Map of the Week
The Whataburger Power Outage Map When Hurricane Beryl struck Texas last week it left nearly 2 million Houston area residents and...
5 months ago
58
5 months ago
When Hurricane Beryl struck Texas last week it left nearly 2 million Houston area residents and businesses without power. Local power company Center Point Energy's online power outage map has been unavailable since May. Social media user BBQBryan noted that Texas based...
James Cheshire
Being creative is reason enough to try different data visualization A simple line chart might be all you need to communicate the patterns in a dataset, but it might not...
over a year ago
47
over a year ago
A simple line chart might be all you need to communicate the patterns in a dataset, but it might not be given a second glance. Getting the viewer to work a little harder to interpret and think about a graphic can be a very effective way of generating engagement. This is where the...
Maps Mania
The EJAtlas: A Map for Environmental Justice
3 months ago
Maps Mania
How to Make Your Own Map Jigsaw Puzzle
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Snickelways of York Note: In May, I spent some time traveling through England. This is the first of maybe several posts...
5 months ago
78
5 months ago
Note: In May, I spent some time traveling through England. This is the first of maybe several posts from that trip. In York, England a snickelway is a narrow passageway variously referred to as a"snicket", "gimmel" or "alleyway", the word being a combination of all of these. Mark...
Map of the Week
Mapping Etymology Mapologies is a website that shows many interesting etymology maps such as this one showing the word...
8 months ago
46
8 months ago
Mapologies is a website that shows many interesting etymology maps such as this one showing the word for Earth throughout Europe-from their planets page. The countries are color coded by the language family origins of the words. Here are peaches from the fruits page. I like...
Adventures In...
On-the-Fly Generalization Hack for ArcGIS Pro Generalization is one of the most important tools in a map maker’s tool kit. Sometimes the...
10 months ago
76
10 months ago
Generalization is one of the most important tools in a map maker’s tool kit. Sometimes the complexity of our geometry needs to be smoothed out to best visually represent a place or appear best at various scales. Here is a way (complete hack, but surprisingly effective) to...
Transit Maps
Submission – Fantasy Map: Tram Network for Bristol, England by Elliott Sargent Submitted by Elliott, who says: I’ve been a fan of your work for a while now, and thought I’d submit...
a year ago
45
a year ago
Submitted by Elliott, who says: I’ve been a fan of your work for a while now, and thought I’d submit my own work for judgement. I’ve had a crack at designing a map for an as-yet non-existent tram and bus network for Bristol, UK, a city in dire need of reliable, integrated public...
Map of the Week
Paris Olympics 1924 Paris will host the Olympics in a few days. They previously hosted them 100 years ago. Here is a...
5 months ago
57
5 months ago
Paris will host the Olympics in a few days. They previously hosted them 100 years ago. Here is a small map of the 1924 Olympic venues.  via metropolitiques Artist Pauline de Langre has some nice, artistic maps showing the venues in 1924 and 2024. A bit hard to read at this...
Maps Mania
Tripgeo Cities
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Cinematic 3D Space Simulations
a year ago
Map of the Week
Below the Ice This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the...
11 months ago
29
11 months ago
This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the Antarctic Ice Shelf. Here is a nice graphic from phys.org. The topography was determined by a combination of radio wave echoes and satellite images. This landscape, more than 2...
Maps Mania
Plasticine Earth
11 months ago
Maps Mania
Real-Time Animated Wind Maps
2 months ago
Maps Mania
GeoClash
a year ago
Musings on Maps
Security Walls: “This is Just the Beginning” Attending New Year’s service in an Oxford Orthodox synagogue, I paused when the ritual prayer book I...
a year ago
69
a year ago
Attending New Year’s service in an Oxford Orthodox synagogue, I paused when the ritual prayer book I held–a Machzor-moved smoothly from prayers to George VI (it was an old one) to prayers for the Israel Defense Forces. The rabbi, who … Continue reading →
Maps Mania
Moon 2.0
2 days ago
Maps Mania
How Good is Your Map Memory?
a week ago
Maps Mania
The World's Most Impressive Mountain
a year ago
Maps Mania
The City Map Game
a year ago
Maps Mania
VersaTiles Free Map Tiles
2 months ago
Maps Mania
Spreading Love & Peace in Nutopia
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Your Global Local Radio Map
a month ago
Maps Mania
The World's Most Controversial Interactive Map
10 months ago
Adventures In...
How to make tapered rivers in ArcGIS Pro Cartographers will often exaggerate the natural scale of a mapped feature to help it communicate...
a year ago
50
a year ago
Cartographers will often exaggerate the natural scale of a mapped feature to help it communicate something of its nature. Some examples are vertical exaggeration of terrain or the very existence of point symbols (cities aren’t actually that big). We embellish for effect. Making a...
Adventures In...
How to Make a Historical Animation with Landsat Here’s how to whip up a three decade animation of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest,...
9 months ago
59
9 months ago
Here’s how to whip up a three decade animation of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest, using Landsat Explorer. And it only takes a few minutes. … 0:00 Intro0:20 Assembling the animation1:47 Checking the result2:14 Saving an animation as an MP42:44 More animation examples3:33...
Maps Mania
Free Maps for All
3 months ago
Map of the Week
The Grand Paris Express I was recently in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (GSD) when I came across this...
a year ago
21
a year ago
I was recently in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (GSD) when I came across this fantastic exhibit on the Grand Paris Express. The GPE is a hugely ambitious project to add several metro ring lines connecting the suburbs of Paris to each other and to the central...
Maps Mania
A Year of CO2
10 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 3 (Japan: Tokyo Temples and Tourists) I arrived in Japan on a Friday evening, having lost an entire day crossing the International Date...
a year ago
46
a year ago
I arrived in Japan on a Friday evening, having lost an entire day crossing the International Date Line from Honolulu. But it also meant I got a free weekend in Tokyo before resuming work on Monday. It’s easier and cheaper to stay in a hotel all weekend than go half way around the...
Musings on Maps
Sea Surface Temperatures With global ocean surface temperatures shot way off the charts by mid-March, beyond forty years...
a year ago
20
a year ago
With global ocean surface temperatures shot way off the charts by mid-March, beyond forty years satellites have monitored sea surface temperatures, we’ve been struggling to map the changes in sea-surface temperatures, both globally and locally, in satisfactory and meaningful...
James Cheshire
The era of the megalopolis: how the world’s cities are merging James Cheshire, UCL and Michael Batty, UCL On November 15 2022, a baby girl named Vinice Mabansag,...
over a year ago
42
over a year ago
James Cheshire, UCL and Michael Batty, UCL On November 15 2022, a baby girl named Vinice Mabansag, born at Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, Philippines, became – symbolically – the eight billionth person in the world. Of those 8 billion people, 60% live in a town or...
Maps Mania
FlightRadar's New GPS Jamming Map
9 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the Amazon Underworld
a year ago
Map of the Week
Suginami Walking Tours Suginami is a ward on the west side of Tokyo. The Experience Suginami web page features a series of...
a year ago
29
a year ago
Suginami is a ward on the west side of Tokyo. The Experience Suginami web page features a series of walks and tours with some nice maps.  The Historical Walk shows not only the shrines and gardens of the neighborhood, but also shows where you can get ramen and "healthy" soy...
GeoCurrents
The 1912 Presidential Election: The High Tide of Socialism in the U.S. – and in Oklahoma The 1912 U.S. general election was one of the most complicated contests in American presidential...
2 months ago
4
2 months ago
The 1912 U.S. general election was one of the most complicated contests in American presidential history. Former president Theodore Roosevelt challenged his handpicked successor, incumbent William Howard Taft, and outpolled him smartly, taking 27.4% of the popular vote and 88...
Maps Mania
The Interactive Turbulence Map
11 months ago
Maps Mania
The Interactive Genocide Map
a month ago
Maps Mania
Historical Sanborn Maps of America
a year ago
Maps Mania
Using AI to Detect Oil Spills
10 months ago
Maps Mania
Where to Watch April's Solar Eclipse
10 months ago
Maps Mania
France Defeats the Far-Right
5 months ago
Map of the Week
Indigenous Languages-Part 3 Here is part 3 in what was meant to be a two part series. In between my last two posts, Vivid Maps...
10 months ago
33
10 months ago
Here is part 3 in what was meant to be a two part series. In between my last two posts, Vivid Maps posted a map of indigenous languages. I think this was just a coincidence. I only saw their post yesterday and I don't think they saw or were reacting to what I posted. Anyway this...
Maps Mania
The June Deportations
a year ago
somethingaboutmaps
The Projection Collection Returns About a year ago, I released The Projection Collection, a set of 77 trading cards based on map...
a year ago
35
a year ago
About a year ago, I released The Projection Collection, a set of 77 trading cards based on map projections. Each card features a unique map produced by one of 65 different cartographers. While my colleagues and I did our best to let everyone know about these cards, some people...
Maps Mania
170 Years of American Immigration
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Marine Light and Noise Pollution
a week ago
Maps Mania
London, Paris & Berlin Metro Memory Games
a year ago
Maps Mania
Population Flags
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Battles of World War II & American Wars
5 months ago
Map of the Week
Heat Islands of Philadelphia Program Note: This month is Philadelphia month! Don't get too excited.  In the past I've done San...
a year ago
18
a year ago
Program Note: This month is Philadelphia month! Don't get too excited.  In the past I've done San Francisco Week and New Jersey Week. Much of that content was posted to Twitter. These things happen when I suddenly find a trove of information about a specific place. In this case...
Maps Mania
Geolocating Visual Media in Conflict Zones
a month ago
Map of the Week
Your Climate in 60 Years This fall's supercharged hurricanes are a reminder that despite the dishonest rhetoric coming from...
2 months ago
39
2 months ago
This fall's supercharged hurricanes are a reminder that despite the dishonest rhetoric coming from top Republican politicians, global warming is definitely not a hoax. The University of Maryland has a new mapping tool to show you where on earth your climate will most resemble in...
Map of the Week
Harry Beck's Famous Subway Map Goes Airborne This map was published a month ago in the Londonist. Just about every other map blog has already...
a year ago
35
a year ago
This map was published a month ago in the Londonist. Just about every other map blog has already picked up on it and I am late to the game. However, I've spent so much time looking at it that I think it's worth a visit even if you've already seen it. It was drawn by Harry Beck,...
Maps Mania
Highly Artificial Locations
8 months ago
Maps Mania
The Right-Wing Terrorism Map
10 months ago
Maps Mania
These are the Safest Cities in the World
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping the Underground Art Scene
3 weeks ago
Maps Mania
Ephemeral Tweets
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Silver Line Extension The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on...
a year ago
30
a year ago
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on November 15, 2022. I couldn’t be there on opening day but I still wanted to check out the new stations while they were relatively “new.” So I checked in with my frequent travel...
Map of the Week
More Maps and Views at the British Library Here is another installment of maps on display at the British Library - part 1 can be found...
4 months ago
52
4 months ago
Here is another installment of maps on display at the British Library - part 1 can be found here. Estate Map by Margaret Bowles, 1659 Apologies for the dark and shadowy picture, the display hall is not brightly lit. Margaret Bowles was an English cartographer whose surviving...
Maps Mania
The Islamic State Attack Map
8 months ago
Map of the Week
Terrain Representations from the Atlas of Design In last week’s post I reviewed Volume 7 of the Atlas of Design. As an occasional cartographer I have...
2 months ago
30
2 months ago
In last week’s post I reviewed Volume 7 of the Atlas of Design. As an occasional cartographer I have been interested in how topography is represented in maps for a long time. This atlas volume provides many contrasting examples. From the “cartographic realism” of Tom Patterson’s...
Maps Mania
The Ghosts of London
a month ago
Map of the Week
The 2022 Hurricane Season While I was busy obsessing over my 30 Day Map Challenge in November, CNN put out this map in a...
over a year ago
14
over a year ago
While I was busy obsessing over my 30 Day Map Challenge in November, CNN put out this map in a summary of the 2022 hurricane season. It's interesting to see all the hurricane tracks on one map. While the season started out slowly, it finished with several memorable storms...
Maps Mania
Divorced, Befriended, Married or Died
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Stunning Beauty of Air Traffic Data
8 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Cards I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and map-related that you could collect and exchange at conferences. I poked around at some design ideas for a while, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far. This is the front side of the...
Maps Mania
Pixel View
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The 2024 Cicadapocalypse
8 months ago
Maps Mania
Weather or Not
7 months ago
Maps Mania
The AI Diplomacy Map
a year ago
Map of the Week
Artwork of Mary Edna Fraser Those who have read this blog over the years know that I love the intersection of art and...
a year ago
18
a year ago
Those who have read this blog over the years know that I love the intersection of art and cartography. One of my recent discoveries is artist Mary Edna Fraser. Her textile work (from silks to rugs) and paintings range from the continental scale, East Coast, US-batik on...
Maps Mania
Why the Spanish Like Vertical Living
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Spookiest Places in the USA
a year ago
Maps Mania
America's Pink Migration Banana
a year ago
Maps Mania
Light, Shadows & Fog
a year ago
Adventures In...
Puget Sound 3D block diagram Here’s a map of the Puget Sound area that I made a couple years ago for presentations to folks in...
11 months ago
89
11 months ago
Here’s a map of the Puget Sound area that I made a couple years ago for presentations to folks in the US northwest. Recently I wanted to work some more at labeling in a 3D environment and found this to be a handy target. Additionally, I thought it would be fun to make more use …
Map of the Week
The Real World Costs of Bitcoin This is from April but at last week’s NACIS conference I saw Zach Levitt speak about making these...
a year ago
67
a year ago
This is from April but at last week’s NACIS conference I saw Zach Levitt speak about making these graphics for the New York Times. The story details how in the midst of a winter storm that left tens or thousands without power, bitcoin mines in the state kept running, until the...
Adventures In...
In a Slump, But Not Forever
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Live Music Mapping Project
a year ago
Adventures In...
Throwing Shade In Wild Color I once heard someone say that standard hillshade (one-direction light source) ignores half of the...
a year ago
50
a year ago
I once heard someone say that standard hillshade (one-direction light source) ignores half of the terrain. While this is an exaggeration, it makes a good point. Earth has an atmosphere and light diffuses, bounces, and wraps around a terrain in a manner that a single light...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 2 (Jurassic Coast) We were firmly based in Swanage after the long day of travel and ready to explore our new...
5 months ago
58
5 months ago
We were firmly based in Swanage after the long day of travel and ready to explore our new surroundings. However, we were still pretty tired so we stuck close to home and made it an easy day. Swanage sits near the eastern end of the 96 mile (154 km) Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World...
Maps Mania
Welcome To Your New Gardening Zone
7 months ago
Map of the Week
Turkey and Syria Earthquake Response Parts of Turkey and Syria have been devastated by the strongest, most destructive earthquake in the...
a year ago
20
a year ago
Parts of Turkey and Syria have been devastated by the strongest, most destructive earthquake in the recorded history of those countries. The earthquake has been followed by over a hundred powerful aftershocks, including one almost as powerful as the original magnitude 7.8...
Map of the Week
Nicknames of the States Here's a strange one: An 1884 promotional map for a company that manufactured hog rings (like nose...
7 months ago
59
7 months ago
Here's a strange one: An 1884 promotional map for a company that manufactured hog rings (like nose rings for hogs, you can read more about those here, if you can stomach a little animal cruelty).  Each state is shown with a representative ring-wearing hog. Complete with a...