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GeoCurrents
Exploring the Urban/Rural Electoral Divide in Canada, and Its Exceptions Although the Canadian electorate is more leftwing than that of the United States, the two counties...
3 months ago
42
3 months ago
Although the Canadian electorate is more leftwing than that of the United States, the two counties have similar electoral geographies (see the previous GeoCurrents post). In both the U.S. and Canada, population density figures prominently in the political divide: the more urban...
Musings on Maps
Floating Sargasso Sea Mapped from the Canaries to the West Indies, against a blank background, the Sargassum Belt seems...
over a year ago
123
over a year ago
Mapped from the Canaries to the West Indies, against a blank background, the Sargassum Belt seems removed from the levels of phosphorous of our coastal oceans leaving the high density of its thirteen million tons on a blank screen as the latest whacky disturbance of the...
Maps Mania
The Dot Map of America
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The Flight of the Barn Swallow
7 months ago
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
104
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...
Maps Mania
An Extremely Distorted Map of the US Election
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Swimming With the Tide
3 weeks ago
Maps Mania
Belt & Road vs TACO
3 months ago
Adventures In...
The Geoholics Podcast I got to join The Geoholics podcast this week and had a fun conversation with Kent Groh, Ryan Kelly,...
over a year ago
100
over a year ago
I got to join The Geoholics podcast this week and had a fun conversation with Kent Groh, Ryan Kelly, and Nik Smilovsky Here is a link to the episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sHBwsGyfAoZE3ra5RaeVB?si=f1f3bdf9ab3b4695 Here’s the episode’s description: Raised by two...
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...
a year ago
158
a year 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...
Map of the Week
Bad News For Local News Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative released the latest State of Local News. It...
10 months ago
45
10 months ago
Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative released the latest State of Local News. It highlights the dire state of print journalism with maps to illustrate the problems. This one highlights counties that are on the watch list to become news deserts. News deserts...
Adventures In...
Stories Here are some StoryMap stories that I’ve written over the years… Piracy & Time Travel How Deep is...
over a year ago
97
over a year ago
Here are some StoryMap stories that I’ve written over the years… Piracy & Time Travel How Deep is Challenger Deep? Julie’s Improbable Flight How to Write a Story, starring sharks and hurricanes Gap, Pass, Notch, & Saddle College Football Air Mile Index Rivers of Plastic Smoking,...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 7 (South Korea: The DMZ) The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27,...
over a year ago
81
over a year ago
The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27, 1953. So there’s a multi-decade ceasefire, a truce, but no agreed-upon resolution of hostilities. A four kilometre wide Demilitarized Zone acts as a buffer between North and South...
GeoCurrents
Is Apple Maps Erasing Druze Identity by Calling the “Jabal al-Druze” the “Jabal al-Arab”? Armed conflict over the past few weeks in southern Syria between the Druze and Bedouin militias...
a month ago
30
a month ago
Armed conflict over the past few weeks in southern Syria between the Druze and Bedouin militias receiving help from the Syrian military have taken over a thousand lives. As reported in the Kurdish press, Tawfiq al-Hijri, Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Office of the...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 8 (Onward to London) Finally we reached the end of our time in Dorset. I enjoyed that quiet corner of England and I felt...
a year ago
123
a year ago
Finally we reached the end of our time in Dorset. I enjoyed that quiet corner of England and I felt we covered it pretty thoroughly. Now we needed to drive back to London where a whole new set of adventures awaited. Stonehenge However, we couldn’t go straight back because of...
Maps Mania
Hunger Maps
3 months ago
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...
a year ago
118
a year 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
The Global News Map
a month ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Kaohsiung MRT Diagram, Taiwan, 2025 Submitted by Emerson, who says: This is Kaohsiung MRT’s new system map, following the Red Line...
a week ago
15
a week ago
Submitted by Emerson, who says: This is Kaohsiung MRT’s new system map, following the Red Line extension to Gangshan and the completion of the LRT loop. So far, Kaohsiung has not been featured on this site, so I would love to see your opinions on their map! Transit Maps says: I...
Maps Mania
The Trump Appeaser's Map
a month ago
Maps Mania
The Digital Twin's Digital Twin
7 months ago
Adventures In...
van Gogh style wind map Here’s how to use compositing to tint flowing wind patterns by underlying terrain colors. Why?...
4 months ago
34
4 months ago
Here’s how to use compositing to tint flowing wind patterns by underlying terrain colors. Why? Because rather than a basemap providing some context around a layer that inherently blocks your view of it, you can leverage the amazing compositing blend modes of the ArcGIS Online Map...
Adventures In...
How to make this drought map in ArcGIS Online Here’s how to make the drought map used in the Drought Aware app. This video covers creating a...
8 months ago
127
8 months ago
Here’s how to make the drought map used in the Drought Aware app. This video covers creating a custom imagery basemap, modified to best support thematic data, and a styling method for the overlain drought polygons so they tint the imagery a color based on severity and have a...
James Cheshire
The long history of using maps to hold water companies to account James Cheshire, UCL Southern Water was handed a record fine of £90 million in July 2021 after...
over a year ago
103
over a year ago
James Cheshire, UCL Southern Water was handed a record fine of £90 million in July 2021 after pleading guilty to illegally discharging sewage along the rivers and coastline of Kent, Hampshire and Sussex. More than a year later, the headlines have not improved for Britain’s...
Maps Mania
The Future of Urban Mobility
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The Largest Gathering in Human History
3 months ago
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...
a year ago
116
a year 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...
Maps Mania
GeoGuesser - Hosted by an AI
a week ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 6 (South Korea: Seoul) I didn’t get much time to wander around Seoul like I did in Tokyo. Every day was a work day and it...
over a year ago
141
over a year ago
I didn’t get much time to wander around Seoul like I did in Tokyo. Every day was a work day and it was a brief stop. So I was confined mostly to what I could see from the windshield as we drove through the city or from the hotel. However, this was my first trip […] The post...
Maps Mania
Drinking & Eating in the Sun
4 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Historical Map: Suburban Tramways of Bordeaux, 1954 Submitted by Florian, who says: I submit this map because first of all, I live there and I was...
6 months ago
67
6 months ago
Submitted by Florian, who says: I submit this map because first of all, I live there and I was thrilled to learn there is a blog about transit maps design. And I love old maps, which I was also thrilled to see they are welcome here. This map dates from 1954, merely 4 years before...
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Transit Map of Denpasar, Bali, 2025 Submitted by Ida Bagus Nararya Adityananda, who says: This is the new transit network map of...
6 months ago
74
6 months ago
Submitted by Ida Bagus Nararya Adityananda, who says: This is the new transit network map of Denpasar, Bali metro per January 1st 2025. After the closure of Trans Metro Dewata buses that connects 4 regencies and city in Bali. Now, only Trans Sarbagita operates with its 2 corridor...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Sydney Railway Layout, c. 1940 Unearthed on Twitter (It’ll always be Twitter to me, no matter what Elon says) by @crossing_lights,...
a year ago
76
a year ago
Unearthed on Twitter (It’ll always be Twitter to me, no matter what Elon says) by @crossing_lights, this is quite an extraordinary find. Long-time readers may have seen the 1939 version of this diagram (and the digital recreation that I made). Here’s the thing: the general...
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Connections: A Very Nerdy Poster Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something...
over a year ago
113
over a year ago
Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something map-related. A 16 × 24-inch tangled web showing how 100+ different map projections are all related to each other: Projections are a niche topic even among cartographers, so I don’t...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 1 (Intentions and Observations) This was supposed to be the younger kid’s trip. It was his turn to select a destination — anywhere...
over a year ago
64
over a year ago
This was supposed to be the younger kid’s trip. It was his turn to select a destination — anywhere in the world — as a present for his upcoming high school graduation next year. The older one chose Australia back in 2018 and we expanded it to include New Zealand too. England...
Musings on Maps
Victory! Sensing a need for administering a national shot of dopamine without much to accomplish for n end to...
6 months ago
69
6 months ago
Sensing a need for administering a national shot of dopamine without much to accomplish for n end to war in Ukraine–despite promises of one being imminent–and with less low-rate beachfront properties available than hoped for amidst the rubble in Gaza, … Continue reading →
Adventures In...
How to make map textures for ArcGIS and stuff Here’s how you can take an image, turn it into a repeating texture, and apply it to the whole world....
a week ago
15
a week ago
Here’s how you can take an image, turn it into a repeating texture, and apply it to the whole world. We’ll make a cement-sourced gritty texture and then a water-sourced wave texture. We’ll use the Vector Tile Style Editor to make these textures global layers for ArcGIS, ready to...
Map of the Week
30 Day Map Challenge-Admiring the Work of Others For the past several years November for me has meant working on the 30 Day Map Challenge. This year...
9 months ago
48
9 months ago
For the past several years November for me has meant working on the 30 Day Map Challenge. This year I’ve been too busy to participate - also I really needed a break from it. Not participating means I’ve been able to admire the work of other cartographers. Here are some highlights...
Adventures In...
Illumination Cartography Here are a few flavors of a technique, illumination cartography, that uses data to shed light on its...
a year ago
142
a year ago
Here are a few flavors of a technique, illumination cartography, that uses data to shed light on its underlying basemap. There’s something satisfying about presenting a phenomenon as revealing geography rather than obscuring it. Love, John
Maps Mania
Has a Nuke Gone Off?
2 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Ontario, Day 6 (Owen Sound) Our time along the southern tip of Georgian Bay was quickly drawing to an end but we still had one...
2 months ago
33
2 months ago
Our time along the southern tip of Georgian Bay was quickly drawing to an end but we still had one more destination along the shoreline towards the northwest. But first I took my final early morning stroll through Collingwood before the family woke up. I retraced some of the more...
Map of the Week
Mapping Prejudice Mapping Prejudice is a project by a team of scholars and activists at the University of Minnesota....
6 months ago
66
6 months ago
Mapping Prejudice is a project by a team of scholars and activists at the University of Minnesota. The project maps racial covenants, clauses that were inserted into property deeds to keep people who were not White from buying or occupying homes.  The mapping page has an...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Graduated It seemed like just yesterday that Twelve Mile Circle chronicled the kid who designed an imaginary...
a year ago
152
a year 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
How Hazardous is Your Town?
a month ago
GeoCurrents
How Does an Updated Map of Zoogeographic Regions Mesh with the Architecture of Continents? An important 2013 article in published in Science, “An Update of Wallace’s Zoogeographic Regions of...
5 months ago
41
5 months ago
An important 2013 article in published in Science, “An Update of Wallace’s Zoogeographic Regions of the World,” redivides the world’s faunal regions. The study is based on a sophisticated statistical and phylogenetic analysis of 21,037 species of amphibians, non-pelagic birds and...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 7  (Hodgepodge) The Dayton trip came to an end but I still had a bunch of stuff to talk about that didn’t fit into...
a year ago
135
a year ago
The Dayton trip came to an end but I still had a bunch of stuff to talk about that didn’t fit into any of the earlier articles. Naturally I’ve collected them all together within this final compilation to serve as a wrap-up. Then we can call this one done and move onto the next...
Adventures In...
Blend Mode Helper Blend modes can be a complex thing to wrap one’s head around. Experimentation is the best teacher,...
over a year ago
100
over a year ago
Blend modes can be a complex thing to wrap one’s head around. Experimentation is the best teacher, but even then there are lots of variabilities involved, depending on the layer you use to experiment. The Blend Mode Helper Map (and its constituent Blend Mode Helper layer) reduces...
Musings on Maps
Expansionist Energies and Political Synergies: Unpacking the Brave New World of DOGE Donald Trump has so skillfully adopted terms and coopted concepts by slapping his name on them to...
3 months ago
30
3 months ago
Donald Trump has so skillfully adopted terms and coopted concepts by slapping his name on them to rebrand them as his own, in ways we may do well to question if this is entirely impulsively done. From CPAC to the … Continue reading →
Maps Mania
The Gulf of Kleptocracy
6 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 1 (The Wright Stuff) When people have asked, I’ve told them with a straight face that we didn’t go to Daytona for Spring...
a year ago
131
a year ago
When people have asked, I’ve told them with a straight face that we didn’t go to Daytona for Spring Break, no, we went to Dayton. As in Ohio. As in probably the least likely Spring Break destination in the United States. We managed to avoid warm weather, sandy beaches, and...