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Reporters Without Borders has released its 2022 assessment of press freedom in 180 countries and territories. Notably, Central and South America saw serious declines in press freedoms over the last year, with Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela all dropping at least 11 (and as many as 39) positions in global rankings. Users can mouse over the map for details or click on the "Analyses 2022" for details: rsf.org/en/index
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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.)
Earth Day is next week. This map shows (in green) the parts of the world's terrestrial surface least impacted by humans. The darker the green, the less human activity in that region. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/where-people-arent
World Water Day was earlier this week. This map, developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit based on projections from the World Resources Institute, shows anticipated stresses on world water supplies by 2040. The UN defines a territory as water stressed when it has withdrawn 25% of its freshwater resources. The EIU report includes a number of other interesting maps related to too much or too little water around the world. (Map from impact.economist.com/sustainability/project/water-optimisation/download/water-opt-report-EIU-version.pdf.)
Because of the inherent problems trying to convert a 3D planet to a 2D visualization, mapmakers' projections all tend to distort the sizes, shapes, and positions of landmasses in various ways. This website allows users to choose a country and then superimpose it over another area to get a better sense for relative size and how size is frequently distorted as one moves toward the poles: thetruesize.com (Just for kicks, move Russia to the equator, for example.)
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 series of graphs in this article compare COVID deaths and COVID risk factors across the world's large wealthy countries. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/01/science/covid-deaths-united-states.html
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/
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
Foreign correspondent and geography author Tim Marshall has a new book out The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World. Marshall argues that rivers, mountains, deserts, and sea lanes shape a nation’s behavior as much as the ideological and cultural factors that get more attention. In The Power of Geography, Marshall looks at 10 countries/regions -- Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and outer space -- "chosen for their potential as geopolitical hotspots. These are places where we can expect things to happen, and soon. The big issues are all relevant here; these are places grappling with climate change, religion and struggles over resources, and are, above all, figuring out their place in the new world order." The Power of Geography is a sequel to Marshall's 2015 bestseller, Prisoners of Geography, which is also worth reading. (Quote from https://geographical.co.uk/reviews/books/item/4056-the-power-of-geography-ten-maps-that-reveal-the-future-of-our-world-by-tim-marshall-book-review.)
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime has prepared a Global Organized Crime Index. The index's mapping tool allows users to select for specific categories of crime (e.g., human trafficking, synthetic drugs, arms trafficking) as well as resilience factors (e.g., victim and witness support, international cooperation, government transparency). ocindex.net/
As of earlier this week, 98 countries (shown in red on this map) have pledged to support the resettlement of Afghan refugees "who have worked with us and those who are at risk." More than 120,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan during August, representing the largest airlift effort since the 1948-49 airlifts of food and supplies to break the Soviet blockade of Berlin. www.statista.com/chart/25653/countries-pledging-to-accept-afghans
Because tectonic plates are constantly in (slow) motion, many geographic landforms are constantly changing as well -- lakes and trenches that get deeper, seas that get smaller, mountains that get taller, islands that emerge or break off.... This article from Geographical (UK) discusses how tectonic plate movement is expected to change the face of the planet over the next 200-250 million years and includes a short video based on the work of Dutch geologists about the (distant) future's Somalaya mountains: geographical.co.uk/places/mountains/item/4092-predicting-the-formation-of-a-new-mountain-range
For centuries, cartographers have experimented with new map-making projections to improve usability and reduce the various distortions that come from trying to make the 3D two dimensional. Here's a new candidate, designed by a team of astrophysicists: geographical.co.uk/places/mapping/item/4018-a-new-world-map-projection-minimises-the-inherent-problems-of-flattening-the-globe
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/
Reuters (UK) has created a series of interactive maps and graphs tracking COVID vaccine rollout in 80 countries around the world (and all 50 U.S. states): graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/
The maps accompanying this article from The Wall Street Journal show the impact of the pandemic on air travel by comparing domestic and international air traffic in the U.S. and around the world on Feb. 26, 2021 with that of Feb. 28, 2020. www.wsj.com/articles/the-places-you-cant-fly-to-anymore-11616248802
This geo-graphic is supposed to be a visualization of countries' share of the earth's surface, but the more salient piece, at least for me, is the share of the earth's surface that is either international water (43%) or, perhaps more surprisingly, territorial water (27%).
www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-by-share-of-earths-surface/ 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
For many countries, COVID and its associated economic impacts are contributing to what some are referring to as a "debt tsunami," an enormous wave of debt heading towards an unsuspecting shore. This topological map from The Washington Post shows debt as a percentage of GDP. (From www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/01/10/coronavirus-pandemic-debt-crisis.)
How is the COVID vaccine rollout going? This geo-graphic ranks countries leading in vaccines administered as a percentage of the population: www.statista.com/chart/23833/covid-19-vaccination-doses-per-100-people
Need to travel outside the U.S.? This interactive map shows COVID restrictions based on country of origin and destination. For example, at present, a traveler from the United States can go to Colombia, Brazil, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Turkey, and Serbia with relatively few restrictions. www.skyscanner.com/travel-restrictions
Elections and wars are inflection points rich in counterfactuals. The series of maps in this BBC Future article considers alternate histories, which have become a field of serious historical scholarship: what if the U.S. had lost the American Revolution? what if WWII hadn't been fought? what if the states of the United States had splintered in line with some actual proposals? www.bbc.com/future/article/20201104-the-intriguing-maps-that-reveal-alternate-histories
This short looping video from Visual Capitalist compares the continents by land area, population, and GDP: www.visualcapitalist.com/animated-map-the-comparative-might-of-continents/
As the world has passed the milestone of 1 million COVID-19 deaths, this map, based on data from Johns Hopkins University, looks at current COVID hot spots, as measured by new cases per 100,000 people. (from www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/30/822491838/coronavirus-world-map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-outbreak)
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