GeospatialSample
Choropleth map
Colours each region by a rate or share, showing geographic patterns.
Share of people online, by country.
Sample data
Use it when
- Rates, percentages or per-person values by region
- The geographic pattern is the story
Avoid it when
- Raw totals: big regions dominate, use a symbol map
- Small regions matter as much as large ones
Display modes
- Default
- Share of people online, by country.
- Annotated
- Calls out one country so its value is read in its regional context.
Seen in the wild
Life expectancy, in the Our World in Data grapher
Our World in Data
IMF DataMapper, World Economic Outlook
International Monetary Fund
Macroeconomics · interactive
WHO COVID-19 dashboard
World Health Organization
Public health · dashboard
The Power BI Retail Analysis sample
Microsoft
Retail · dashboard
The partition of Africa
The European powers at the Berlin Conference · 1884
The Mercator projection
Gerardus Mercator · 1569
More in Geospatial
Symbol / bubble map
Places a circle on each location, sized by value, so totals compare fairly regardless of land area.
Cartogram
Resizes places by a value instead of land area, loosening geography so the data sets the size.
Flow / connection map
Draws movement between places as lines whose width shows volume.