A collaboration between University of Sheffield and University of Michigan professors, Worldmapper creates a wide range of "equal area cartograms." These are maps that resize the territory of each country according to a variable. In honor of
Geography Awareness Week, check out their innovative approach to visual cartography.
Worldmapper website.The
map pictured is the distribution of the 631 million internet users worldwide in 2002. It's interesting to
compare this with the same data from 1990. According to Worldmapper, the number of people using the internet increased by 224 times during this period.
"The distribution of Internet users worldwide has changed remarkably over just a dozen years. In 1990 Internet users were mainly found in the United States, Western Europe, Australia, Japan and Taiwan. By 2002 people living in Asia Pacific, Southern Asia, South America, China and Eastern Europe were notable Internet users. A not insignificant number of Internet users are also shown to be in Northern Africa, Southeastern Africa and the Middle East."
