New World Population Cartogram

GEOGRAPHY

A new map resizes countries based on their population. It’s simple: Each square represents 500,000 people. (NPR)

Use our resources to learn how to read strange maps like this one.

Teachers, scroll down for a short list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit, and thanks to Dana J. for the heads-up on this great current event connection!

Discussion Ideas

Customize this map—and dozens more like it—with our great collection of black-and-white 1-Page Maps. Map by National Geograhpic — Customize this map—and dozens more like it—with our great collection of black-and-white 1-Page Maps.
Map by National Geograhpic

The fantastic new image by TeaDranks is not actually a map. It’s a cartogram. What is the difference between a map (like the one above) and a cartogram?
- A traditional map is a flat-surface representation of a region that displays the size and shape of an object in relation to land area. (To learn more about the dilemmas of converting a 3-D object like a globe onto a flat surface, watch this video!)
  - A traditional political map of the world displays the size and shape of countries in relation to land area.
- A cartogram is a representation of a region that displays the size of an object in relation to an attribute rather than land area.
  - The new cartogram displays the size of countries in relation to their population.

What mapping feature do both a traditional world political map and the new cartogram have in common?
- They both use grids.
  - The traditional grid in a political map is formed by the intersection of latitude and longitude.
  - The grid in the new cartogram is simpler: Each square represents 500,000 people.

What surprises or interests you most about the population cartogram?
- The NPR writer was curious about population dynamics such as Africa’s lopsided growth: Nigeria has more than twice as many people as any other country on the continent.
- The cartographer himself, TeaDranks, composed a short set of “bonus maps” on population dynamics that interested him. (My favorite representation is below.)
  - The least-populous 177 countries combined are less populous than China.
    Map by TeaDranks, courtesy Imgur
What other data would you like to see in a cartogram?
- I bet you can find it here. Worldmapper lets you track everything from GDP to endangered species, and they even put it in nice, poster-ready context. Caveat: This data is about 10 years old.
  - This wealth map shows which territories have the greatest wealth when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is compared using currency exchange rates.
    © Copyright Sasi Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).
  - This map is based on numbers of species considered critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
    © Copyright Sasi Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).