GEOGRAPHY
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

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.
- 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!)
- What mapping feature do both a traditional world political map and the new cartogram have in common?
- 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.)
- 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.
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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).
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- 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.
TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT
NPR: India Grows, Canada Disappears: Mapping Countries By Population
TeaDranks: Countries by Population
TeaDranks: Countries by Population: Bonus Maps
Nat Geo: Between the Lines: Learn to read maps like a pro
Nat Geo: 1-Page Maps
3 thoughts on “New World Population Cartogram”