World imbalances maps

March 7th, 2007 by grumpypilgrim

Many of you have probably seen maps like these before.  The geographic size of each country is adjusted (inflated or deflated) to show the relative size of some non-geographic characteristic.  Notice, for example, the map of military spending.

2 Responses to “World imbalances maps”

  1. Erich Vieth Says:

    I really enjoyed the “World According to America” at the bottom of the page you’ve linked. Sad (because true for many) yet funny. At bottom, it points to the us versus them mentality of so many Americans.

  2. Ben Says:

    This is the kind of stuff I work with as a geographer/cartographer. Actually the stuff I do isn’t quite this contemporary or thought provoking, I deal with historic coastal maps. But I learned about cartograms (exaggerated maps based on attributes other than political boundaries) for my degree, as well as use the same analysis (GIS) software. Ironically, we will be able to make great maps of climate change, global warfare, famine, disease, and deforestation as it decimates the planet…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system

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