Map of the Decade!

With grandiose visions of making a "Map of the Decade" I went and sought out some lists of the top news stories from the internet. Trying to find lists that were not biased by politics, region, or sector (such as technology) was impossible. The best I've come up with is this list from about.com. The list is biased towards the USA and our strategic interests and I have my own disagreements, notably the absence of China (big earthquake, rise as a superpower, hosting the Olympics) but I decided to map their list anyway.

Due to the limitations of the Blogger template you'll need to click on the map to see a readable version.

The background map is from MapQuest because they have the least annoying worldwide projection of the major mapping sites. I used the images from the about.com list though some of them are not very recognizable. I placed them at or near the approximate locations of each story except the global recession. That one got put on the Equator.

Yes the inclusion of Michael Jackson is ridiculous. Tell me something I don't already know! Like for example, what should be on this list instead. Have a happy new decade!

NORAD Tracks Santa

Santa has begun his difficult journey delivering presents to the good boys and girls of a certain religion. You can follow his progress on Google Maps. Check soon before he takes his well deserved post-holiday break.

He's in Brisbane! Wait, now he's in Alice Springs! He's one fast fat guy!

Bruce, Bruce and Tom-A Musical Journey

I've always been interested in the geography of musicians-where they come from, where they get discovered, and where they choose to reside when success allows them that choice. I've found a few nice musician maps over the last couple of years. These three artists were chosen because someone made maps for them, more than for any personal preference.

Bruce Cockburn was born and raised near Ottawa but has spent most of his musical career in Toronto. He currently resides near Kingston, Ontario according to his web site. Here is a clickable map of his life in Toronto:

If you prefer the other Bruce, here is a map of  Springsteen's New Jersey titled "Bruceville." Bruce Springsteen is that rare musician who's never needed to stray too far from home and has always remained true to the Garden State.

This map is more fanciful than accurate. The only places that really seem to be located correctly are the Boardwalk, Highway 9 and his father's house. Little Eden is Millville? "The River" is the Delaware? "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" is about Tom's River? * I have my doubts about these things. Thanks to Strange Maps for this.                                                        * After consulting Wikipedia, the undisputed source of all knowledge, it turns out the "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" may actually refer to 10th Avenue in Belmar. If true then the map is close.

Shortly before his Super Bowl XLII appearance, LA Weekly published this map  of Tom Petty's Los Angeles by illustrator Scott Gursky. Although a native of Florida, Petty moved to LA at the beginning of his career and has remained in the area ever since. The article details each place on the map.

 

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Map of the Week- Global Warming

It's snowing here in the northeastern USA so clearly global warming is a hoax! While climate change skeptics and their corporate sponsors continue to bury their heads in the sand, real scientists are gathered in Copenhagen for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. One of the primary goals is to try and limit the rise in temperatures. Britain's Met Office warned of a possible 4 degree Celsius rise in temperatures by 2060 in a study produced for the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The British government has produced an interactive map showing the impact of a 4C rise in global temperatures.

The circles represent hotspots for the categories listed at the bottom and can be turned on and off as well as clicked for more info.

Down at the bottom is a "credits" tab if you wish to investigate the data sources more closely.

The Lienzo de Quauhquechollan

A lienzo is a painting on cloth that was used by indigenous peoples in Central America to communicate knowledge.  The Lienzo de Quauhquechollan dating from the 1530's tells the story of how the Quauhquecholtecans of central Mexico allied with the Spanish conquistador Jorge de Alvarado to conquer Guatemala.  The painting forms a map showing the path of conquest with important rivers and towns represented as symbols.

The lienzo is kept in a museum in Puebla, Mexico. The Universidad Francisco Marroquin (UFM) in Guatemala City restored the painting in digital form and developed a web site to display the Lienzo interactively with a map, timeline, graphics and historical details. Clicking the Dynamic Web Map link will get you to the interactive experience. However, it will probably ask you to download Silverlight-Microsoft's new-ish web plugin that allows for smoother web browsing. This plugin is free, works in all major browsers and platforms (according to our Microsoft overlords) and should not affect anything else on your computer. It will take a few minutes for the process to run and another couple to load the page.

Here are some screen shots from the interactive map.

This shows the area around Retalhuleu, the first area the allies reached from Mexico. Notice the similarity of the dashed green line on the map above and the path of travel shown in the detail below.

 

Clicking on the red dots accesses information about the meaning of each area.

 

There are also pages that interpret the symbols, digital restoration information and lots of other good stuff on the web site.

Map of the Week- Lookout Mountain

On this day in 1863 Union and Confederate forces fought the Battle of Lookout Mountain. After losing a major battle at Chickamauga in September, Union forces gained control of this strategic overlook and the following day forced the Confederate troops off nearby Missionary Ridge. These battles enabled the Union Army to control most of Tennessee and set the stage for later campaigns in Georgia.

This battle and many others are nicely documented in maps for Wikipedia by amateur Civil War historian Hal Jesperson.


He also sells coffee mugs and t-shirts featuring his maps at Zazzle. Maybe someday he'll make a Lookout Mountain coffee mug that looks as nice as this one showing the Battle of Shiloh.

Map of Isreal

If you are looking for a map of Isreal you can find some below. Israel is a small country in the Middle East, that was created from the British Mandate territory called Palestine. Isreal was created as a Jewish state, and the Westbank became administered by Jordan, and the Gaza Strip became administerd by Egypt. Jordan and Egypt's territories are now under partial Israeli occupation and partial Palestinian self rule.

Isreal (minus Gaza and the Westbank) has a total population of 7,465,000. The population is 75.4% Jewish, 20% Arab, and 4% other minorities including Russian immigrants of partial Jewish ancestry. The total land area of Isreal (minus all disputed territories) is only 20,770 square km. For comparison, that is about 2/3 the size of Vancouver Island. That makes Israel the 34th most densely populated country in the world with 356.8 people per square kilometer. This small size and high population density plays a roll in Isreal's territorial disputes with its neighbours.





This road map of Israel shows lots of detail, but be careful because it does not show the borders of the Westbank and Gaza. In Israel those boundaries are not allowed to be printed on maps.



This map of Isreal shows the Palestinian autonomous areas. In yellow are areas theoretically under full Palestinian control. Nearby there are blue-green areas that represent Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian control of security. The other areas in between remain under full Israeli control. This map may be a little bit out of date because those areas continue to slowly change as Palestinians are given control over more land.



I hope you find the above maps of Israel and their explanations informative. Israel is a fascinating place where history is being made on a daily basis. I highly recommend you visit so you can see the situation firsthand.

Dead Sea Map

If you are looking for a Dead Sea map you can find one down below. I have visited the Dead Sea several times and its a fascinating otherworldly place. It really does look like something out of a science fiction film, especially the southern end of the lake which looks like the landscape of another planet.

The Dead Sea is a lake in the Middle East, bordered to the east by Jordan, and bordered to the west by the Westbank on its nothern end, and Israel on its southern end. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers long from top to bottom, and 18 km wide at its widest point. It is a highly saline lake, because there is no way for water to drain from it other than by evaporation that leaves behind the salt. This high saline quality of the water is what allows people to float and have a weightless experience in the Dead Sea's waters. It's a must-do experience for all travelers.

Here are the Dead Sea maps below.






I hope the above Dead Sea map collection was useful. And I hope you somebody visit the Holy Land and take a dip in the real Dead Sea.

Map of the Week- Russia's Time Zones

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, in a recent speech, suggested reducing the number of time zones in Russia. A recent BBC article titled "Changing Times in Russia" highlights the difficulties of governing a country that has 11 time zones.

Businesses along the Amur River, across from China have a very short time window in which to be in contact with Moscow during normal working hours. Much of that region's economy has stronger economic ties to China, being closer not only geographically but temporally. The region could possibly improve ties to western Russia and Europe by changing their clocks to be in a closer time zone. 

China, despite spanning five time zones has adopted one time zone for the entire country. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau also use this same time zone. Russia is much too big and would more likely combine several of the time zones on the map above. The BBC article did not list any specifics from Medvedev 's speech but according to Georgian Daily he has proposed cutting the number of time zones to four.

Russia's 11 time zones are a source of pride for many, showing how large the country is and resistance to the plan is expected. A quote from a skeptical scholar of the plan via the Georgian Daily article:

Moscow can cut the number of time zones but it can’t change the shape of the earth or the speed of its rotation relative to the sun.

At least we hope they can't. They do have nukes!
Here is a list of the time zones:

Kalningrad:   UTC (aka GMT) + 2
Moscow:   UTC + 3
Samara:   UTC + 4
Yekaterinburg:   UTC + 5
Omsk:   UTC + 6
Krasnoyarsk:   UTC +7
Irkutsk:   UTC +8 - this is China's time zone
Yakutsk:   UTC +9
Vladivostok:   UTC +10
Magadan:   UTC +11
Kamchatka:   UTC + 12

Map of Korea

Korea is a country that is now divided into two, the communist North Korea and the democratic South Korea. The area of the entire country if reunified is 223,170 square km. And the entire population would be 72,285,392.

South Korea by itself has a total land area of 100,140 square km. Its population is estimated at 48,379,392. North Korea by itself has a total land area of 120,540 square km. Its population is estimated at 23,906,000.

Below you can find a map of Korea for further reference.






If you're heading over to Korea I hope you enjoy your stay. I assume you'll be visiting South Korea. It's a fascinating and exciting country in transition into a fully developed economy, so now is a great time to visit.

Central America Map

Despite common misconception, Central America is not a continent. It is a region of the North American continent, specifically the southernmost portion that borders South America. It is an isthmus, which is a narrow strip of land that bridges or connects two large land masses.

There are seven countries in Central America, specifically Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The primary language of these countries is Spanish, but many other indigenous languages are spoken.

The region has a total land area of 523,780 square km, and a total population of 47,739,000. This gives it a fairly high population density of 77 people per square km.

Below you can refer to a Central America map for further information.






I hope the above Central America maps are useful to you and I hope you enjoy your time in Central America if you visit!

Map of the Week- Where was the Wall?

There's been much media coverage of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. One story I heard was about how some residents of Berlin no longer remember exactly where the wall was located. The German Senate has been working to preserve remnants of the wall and border fortifications. Berlin's official web site has a nice online map and guide showing the course of the wall and the associated monuments. This overview map allows the user to add artistic, memorial and historic sites and click on them for details.

                            
 Below is a zoomed in view of the area around the Pariser Platz and Brandenburg Gate.

           

The web site also has aerial views, history, photos and tourist information.

There is also a 3D view although it requires the Google Earth plugin and does not allow for much interaction.














Here is an aerial view of the Checkpoint Charlie area combined with a map of that location.

The City has also constructed a hiking and bicycling trail along the 160 kilometers of the former border, most of it following the border control roads used by the two governments. The website has a nice description of each section of the trail and also has a link to the Mauer Guide, a downloadable GPS tour that traces the path of the wall with historical information. The guide can be loaded to a cell phone or other handheld device.

Happy 20 jahre mauerfall!

The Map as Art-Exhibit Opens Tomorrow

The Map as Art opens tomorrow at the Christopher Henry Gallery in New York City. This is a group show curated by Christopher Henry and Katharine Harmon, author of the really great map book "You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination." The show shares its name and accompanies the launch of Harmon's new book. There is an opening reception tomorrow (November 5th) from 6-9 PM.

The gallery is "conveniently located off the Elizabeth Street ramp of the Lower Manhattan Expressway" as illustrated below. Those of you in NYC might actually get the joke.


I did not get any images from the show other than what's on the gallery's site. Below is "Strike Anywhere" by Doug Beube.


Many artists are featured including Joyce Kozloff and Karey Kessler.

Here's a quote from the press release. I'm not sure how much I agree with it but it's an interesting take on mapping.

"In the guise of offering illumination, maps obscure. They purport to bring order to the fundamental chaos of life, promising clarity in the face of flux, and claiming knowledge of the unknowable. In their quest to demarcate our differences, they comfort us even as they give the lie to the notion of common experience."

Map of 52 States in USA

I was a little bit surprised to discover that many people on the internet are searching for the phrase "map of 52 states in USA". That's really interesting, because there are only 50 states in the USA, not 52. I think that maybe some non-Americans mistakenly believe that there are 50 continental states and that Alaska and Hawaii are an additional 2. But that is not correct. Actually there are 48 continental states, and Hawaii and Alaska make 50.

There are however some US territories that are not full US states but are administered by the US. One is Puerto Rico, lying in the Caribbean Sea. It is classified as a commonwealth, but in many ways functions like a state and its residents are US citizens. Others include Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (of which Saipan is the capital), the United States Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Some people may mistake some of these for states when in fact they are not, though they are administered by the US.

Here you can find a map of 52 states in USA (well 50 plus territories!)

Map of the Week- Pumpkins!

Denis Wood, an artist and cartographer has co-written several books on mapping, most notably "The Power of Maps" and "Making Maps." Since the 1970's he has been working on a "narrative atlas" of Boylan Heights, his neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. While the atlas has not been published, there are excerpts on the "Making Maps" blog. One of the most well known of these is his jack-o-lantern map.

The map shows the locations of jack-o-lanterns using an image of each one. The lack of any other detail challenges the idea of this being a map. The author aims to break down boundaries between mapping and art and to focus on the patterns rather than on the specific locations that would be apparent if the streets were included.

There's a Map of the Week for That

OK - I screwed up this post a bit. I will leave the original post intact but see the correction section at the end.

Verizon has blitzed the TV and print media with their clever "There's a map for that" advertisements. Given the ease of manipulating this type of map, I'm surprised that this ad has gone virtually unchallenged so far. Does Verizon's map color in any area of reception regardless of how spotty? Are the map projections the same? Does the red vs blue scheme imply some kind of secret Republican bias on the part of Verizon?
I wasted way too much time on a somewhat extensive web search and found nothing out there that challenges this ad. Here is a screenshot from the ad.


Here's a look at AT&T's "coverage viewer" map - it tells a slightly different story.


Both carriers, Verizon and AT&T have interactive coverage maps. You can zoom down to street level to see your local coverage. However, if you live in any urbanized area you're likely to see nothing but a sea of color. Both of these pages have very similar disclaimers. Here's part of AT&T's.
"Map may include areas served by unaffiliated carriers, and may depict their licensed area rather than an approximation of their coverage. Actual coverage area may differ substantially from map graphics, and coverage may be affected by such things as terrain, weather, foliage, buildings and other construction, signal strength, customer equipment and other factors. AT&T does not guarantee coverage"
Sounds like lots of gray areas that can go either way depending on whose map you're making.

The obvious lesson in all of this-don't believe everything you see in advertisements-or maps.

Or on this blog (See below)!!!!!





CORRECTION:
So, as anonymous commenter pointed out, the AT&T map I show above from their website is a "Voice & Data" map, not 3G. As are both of the coverage viewers that I linked to above. You can get a 3G map from AT&T but it's very tricky-if you really want it look for instructions in the comments. The map you will find is actually pretty similar to the map shown in the ad.

What's the difference? Is it just speed or are there things you can't do with "Voice & Data?" I don't know enough about this stuff to speculate.

So if I've unfairly portrayed Verizon as a bunch of liars, sorry about that. However, I am still very skeptical about their own coverage map and the entire premise of the ad. As the Verizon disclaimer says:

"This does not show exact coverage. Wireless service is subject to network and transmission limitations, particularly near boundaries and in remote areas"

If you want maps that are better than the blurry ones in the ads, see the Verizon 3G page.