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Customizable Maps of Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador

Mexico StatesDear Readers,

As it is taking longer than expected to distribute all of the GeoCurrents customizable maps, I have decided to expedite the process. As a result, I have not done anything with the maps that I am making available in today’s post other than color in the provinces, regions, states, etc. of the countries in questions, which are Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. Those Argentina Provinces MapPeru Regions Mapwho download the customizable base maps in the PowerPoint and Keynote files at the bottom of the post can, of course, use them to make any province-based thematic maps that they see fit. Just click on a shape and assign it a color. For small provinces, the name-labels may have to be moved away to allow one to click on the shape rather than the label. In such cases, the name-labels can then be dragged back to the proper place after the color has been assigned. This may sound confusing, but it is actually quite easy.

I hope to finish this process over the next two weeks. In the last week of March, I will begin teaching a 10-week course on the history and geography of current global events. During that period, I hope to post one GeoCurrents article each week that reflects on the topic currently under Chile Regions Mapconsideration in the class.Ecuador Provinces Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customizable Maps Mexico …  (Keynote)

Customizable Maps Mexico ..   (PowerPoint)

Bill Rankin’s Innovative Maps

Another cartographic treasure-trove is found in Bill Rankin’s Radical Cartography. The site includes the most detailed demographic mapping that I have ever encountered. Rankin’s San Francisco Bay Area ethnicity map, a small portion of which I have posted here, is extraordinary: one dot for every 20 people! Areas of racial segregation and of racial mixing are clearly evident on the map. In northeastern San Francisco, for example, an expanded “Chinatown” appears as a heavily Asian area, whereas in the Richmond and Sunset districts of western San Francisco, a much more recent area of Asian settlement, Asians and Whites are fairly evenly interspersed. It would be very interesting to see how such patterns changed between the 2000 and the 2010 censuses.

Rankin’s site includes many unusual and innovative maps, and is well worth prolonged exploration.

Map of Landlocked Countries

Many students are surprised at how few of the world’s sovereign states are landlocked, without access to the sea. The map above depicts the landlocked realm, leaving out the micro-states that cannot be seen at this scale of resolution. Luxemburg is visible on the map – although just barely – but Andorra, San Marino, and Lichtenstein are not. Lichtenstein is one of the world’s two double-landlocked counties, which are bordered only by sovereign states that are themselves landlocked. The other country in this category is Uzbekistan, and is thus depicted as such on the map.