World Refugee Day was earlier this week. Although Ukrainian refugees -- now numbering 5.2 million -- have dominated the news this year, this map from Statista is a reminder that Ukrainians are just a fraction of the world's refugees: www.statista.com/chart/18436/total-number-of-refugees-by-origin-country

Based on existing laws and the current political landscape, the Center for Reproductive Rights estimates this is what the legal status of abortion would look like in the United States if Roe v. Wade is overturned this summer: cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/26955.jpeg (map from Statista)

Tomorrow, French voters will go to the polls to choose between current president Emmanuel Macron and perennial far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. This geo-graphic from Statista shows where right-wing populist parties have had the most electoral success in Europe: www.statista.com/chart/20094/national-election-success-of-far-right-parties-europe (For those who cannot make out the flags to the left of the bars, the top three countries shown are Hungary, Poland, and Switzerland.)

If one is in the U.S. or its democratic allies (with the notable exception of Israel and India), it might seem as if the world is all but united against Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. But, in fact, most of the world's 195 countries have not joined in sanctions or provided assistance to Ukraine, and a few have actively provided assistance to Russia. This map looks at how countries voted on the UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Map from www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/briefing/russian-invasion-response-world-sanctions.html.)

Historically, spring has been a busy time for home sale listings. Does the name of your street matter in terms of resale value?  A recent study by a finance professor at Emory University analyzed nearly 6,000 home sales across 35 states from 2001-2020, comparing houses sold on streets with Confederate names (e.g., Jefferson Davis, Dixie) with comparable houses sold on streets without the Confederate association. The economic geography was striking in two ways. First, in the 11 states of the former Confederacy, the difference in sales prices was not statistically significant, but in the other 24 states, houses on Confederate-named streets sold for an average of 4% less -- a loss of $10,000 on a $250,000 house, for example.  Second, in areas with higher shares of college educated, Democratic-voting, or Black residents, houses on Confederate-named streets sold at a bigger discount and were more likely to be slow to sell. This map shows Confederate street names in New Orleans, for example, where the city council is reconsidering place names with Confederate associations: bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nola.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ab/fab4b190-acfc-11ea-b1a5-f38812a04d2a/5ee436e73a7b7.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C1294. (Map from NOLA.com; study data from www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-08/confederate-street-names-can-bring-lower-home-prices.)

The Economist (UK) recently released its annual look at the state of democracy around the world. Statista created a map based on this Global Democracy Index: cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/18737.jpeg

The anti-corruption NGO Transparency International has released its latest report. The interactive map shows 2021 corruption perceptions scores around the world. Click on a country to see the current corruption score, the corruption trend line since 2012, and news about anti-corruption initiatives. www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021/

Indonesia is officially moving its capital from Jakarta: earlier this week the Indonesian legislature authorized building a new capital, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo. This map from Statista looks at other national capitals that have moved (and why): cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/25119.jpeg

According to the Dutch VPN service Surfshark, more than 1/3 of the world's countries (71 total) have blocked or restricted internet access since 2015. This map shows, in orange, the countries that are currently blocking internet access (China, Iran, Turkmenistan, and North Korea) and, in red, those that have done so at some point since Jan. 2015: surfshark.com/wp-content/themes/surfshark/assets/img/social-media/social-media-access-min-upd1207.png For the full report, see surfshark.com/social-media-blocking

Although Barbados achieved independence in 1966, the island elected to remain a constitutional monarchy with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as its titular head. Only recently, 55 years later, did Barbados choose to become an independent republic (while remaining part of the Commonwealth). This map from Statista shows countries that used to be part of the British Empire: www.statista.com/chart/26297/countries-gained-independence-from-the-uk/

A few months ago, the Chinese Communist party celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. This GIF maps the global spread, and decline, of Communism for a slightly different 100-year interval, from 1917 to 2017: www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/pvx2s5/rise_and_fall_of_communism/

The geo-graphics in this article, including this one, for example (static01.nyt.com/images/2021/09/27/multimedia/27-MORNING-sub2-STATE-VAX-VOTE-PLOT/27-MORNING-sub2-STATE-VAX-VOTE-PLOT-superJumbo.png), highlight the increasingly clear relationship between political geography and COVID vaccination rates and death rates in the U.S.: www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/briefing/covid-red-states-vaccinations.html

Many of the maps in the news in the U.S. at the moment are redistricting maps, as political parties jostle for position after the 2020 Census. This article from The Washington Post highlights three states and three ways of drawing districts in each, resulting in significantly different political outcomes: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/redistricting-proposals-oregon-indiana-colorado/  As a bonus: this article from MIT Technology Review looks at how mathematicians are trying to fight gerrymandering with algorithms, including some that even citizens can use: www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/12/1031567/mathematicians-algorithms-stop-gerrymandering.

In most states, this is an off-year in terms of elections. But not in all states. If you are unsure what changes, if any, to voting laws your state may have passed in 2021, this set of interactive maps from the Associated Press can help. (Information accurate through the end of August.) www.wreg.com/news/interactive-maps-illustrate-election-laws-across-the-us/

This geo-graphic looks at who was granted asylum in the U.S. in FY2019, by country of origin, and how that mix has been changing. www.statista.com/chart/25619/asylum-grants-in-the-us-by-nationality

When Kathy Hochul is sworn in as governor of New York tomorrow following the formal resignation of current governor Andrew Cuomo, she will become the first female governor of New York. This topological map from Statista shows which states have had female governors (in blue, NY already listed) as well as the 19 states (in gray) that have not. www.statista.com/chart/25515/number-of-female-governors-by-state

Happy Flag Day! The Brennan Center for Justice reports that between Jan. 1 and May 14 of this year, 14 states enacted new laws designed to expand access to the vote and 14 states enacted new laws to restrict access to the vote. In addition to providing maps for each development, this Brennan Center summary has explanations of the new state laws and notes where state legislature are still moving on voting bills. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-may-2021

Ever wonder what role political borders play in divvying up landmasses? This interesting Reddit map removes everything but the political borders: www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/l95gc5/map_of_the_world_but_it_is_only_the_land_borders/

As of last week, the 22 states shown in green on this topological map have lifted all COVID restrictions. (The states with the most COVID restrictions? California and New Mexico.) www.statista.com/chart/21423/us-states-lifting-covid-19-restrictions

Shutting off the internet has become an increasingly popular option for asserting governmental control. This geo-graphic looks at the countries in which people began searching for internet workarounds over the last year and indicates what was going on at the time: www.statista.com/chart/24122/vpn-search-during-internet-shutdowns

The anti-corruption NGO Transparency International has released its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index. The interactive map shows country corruption scores and gives users an opportunity to delve into historical data and analysis. (Spoiler alert: the United States has fallen to 67/100, tied with Chile for 25th least-corrupt country.) www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2020

Urban areas in the U.S. have traditionally been Democratic strongholds. This New York Times analysis of 2020 election data suggests the facts on the ground are more nuanced: immigrant neighborhoods in large cities became more "red" and less "blue" in 2020, not just in easy-to-explain cities like Miami but in a range of cities from Chicago and Philadelphia to NYC and Los Angeles. (Check out the detailed maps in the article itself.) www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/20/us/politics/election-hispanics-asians-voting.html

What makes for far-right violence in the U.S.? Based on the work of a pair of researchers at Oklahoma State, it's not poverty or economic decline (in fact, they find most right-wing extremists are "relatively successful" middle class) and it's not more common in areas with greater ethnic diversity (in fact, they find more right-wing terrorism in U.S. counties that are overwhelmingly white).

Instead, the three factors most predictive of right-wing extremism are:
1. "[D]istrust of mainstream political figures and institutions. This is not the general skepticism of government that is central to Republican ideology, but it is a complete rejection of any legitimate legal authority.... This extreme political cynicism legitimizes the belief that political violence is necessary to defend their rights. It fuels a distrust in elections as a mechanism for settling policy disputes ... [and it] makes people less willing to trust political institutions to constrain their opponents."
2. "[T]he belief in 'white victimhood' or 'aggrieved entitlement.' This is the message promoted on right-wing social media, and emphasizes the victimization of the traditionally dominant White Christian male, with empowered women, minorities and immigrants becoming the villains. ... Despite what many may think, this isn’t a story of economic hardship — it is a fear of lost privilege. Many modern right-wing adherents come from the relatively successful middle class. Indeed, although men are more likely to engage in violence, White middle-class women from the suburbs are one of the fastest-growing groups of believers of QAnon and other right-wing conspiracy theories."
3. "[D]ivisive language — used by politicians to mobilize their base — helps normalize the perception that a group is under threat and violent action is necessary. While violence may not be a politician’s goal, individuals exposed to even 'mild violent metaphors' are more likely to support political violence against opposing groups than those who receive more neutral messages. ... Drawing on data on instances of right-wing attacks from 1970 to 2016, we found that this violence was more likely to happen in counties that were electorally competitive — that is, places where Democratic and Republican votes were roughly equivalent."
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/09/three-key-factors-that-drive-far-right-political-violence-two-that-dont/

One of the consequences of the decennial United States population census is a reapportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This map, from The Wall Street Journal, shows the expected gains and losses of House seats, by state. (from www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-prepare-for-battles-over-congressional-redistricting-11609151400)

Both of these maps show, in essence, the proportion of eligible voters who did not vote (shown in beige) in the 2020 (top) and 2016 (bottom) presidential elections. Comparing the two maps shows (a) in more states a greater proportion of eligible voters showed up to vote in 2020 than in 2016 and (b) Wisconsin is the only state in which more eligible voters turned out to vote than didn't in both election cycles *and* between 2016 and 2020 flipped from one party to the other. (from BrilliantMaps.com) i.redd.it/p0z5srsw7py51.png