Santa Claus Travel Time Map - Europe

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‘Memorable’ year (for mapping too) To quote many a commercial from 2020, this year has been “different” and “unprecedented” for all of us. With the Covid-19 pandemic changing our lives, it would be remiss to not mention the impact it has had on us and thank the tireless work key workers have done to protect and take care of us. Data and mapping has come into its own during this time, helping to track the spread of the pandemic, and where possible, to help plan and protect us. Data and mapping has also been vital to perhaps the other two major news headlines – theRead More →

EU Ref 2016 and 2019 UK General Election Ma

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How we got here On the 31st January 2020, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is set to withdraw from the European Union – marking the end of the beginning of ‘Brexit’ – something which whether ‘remain’ or ‘leave’, has dragged on for some time. It is this sentiment, that seemed to bear out for voters during the UK general election back in December 2019. Regardless of your opinion on the matter, the withdrawal deal is signed and it is all but inevitable Brexit will happen. It hard to remain balanced, and if you follow my Twitter, you probably have a senseRead More →

UK 2019 Pre General Election Map Cartogram

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For the many (maps) not the few   You can associate many things with politics. Tiresome. Frustrating. Distrust. Divisive. Controversial.  But there are more positive things which always come around during election time – maps and cartograms (graphical representations of geographical realities). The turbulent nature of British politics has led to another general election on 12th December 2019, which on the one hand has been exhausting and depressing, regardless of political allegiances. However, on the other hand it does provide an opportunity to create some maps and explore political geography of the UK, which is a reflection of socioeconomic histories. Every election, particularly with recentRead More →

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This is a follow on from a previous post, where I released my latest incarnation of a music map and discussed other people’s fine work. This post is going to be slightly different from my normal posts, being a FAQ style about the music map for those who are interested to know more. So without further ado… What is the Music Map? The originally named, Music Map, is an interactive map regarding music artists and the geography of music artists. A brief description of this project is to map where music artists, bands or solo artists have ‘originated’, forming a geographical database which can beRead More →

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Music to my geographical ears! I’m coming up to a four year anniversary. When I started it, I didn’t think it would take up so many evenings. I didn’t think I’d learn so much. I didn’t think the journey would still be ongoing. I am, of course, talking about my ‘Music Map’.  For those who have followed or explored my site, may have noticed my interactive map regarding music artists and the geography of music artists. A brief description of this project is to map where music artists, bands or solo artists have ‘originated’, forming a geographical database which can be used to display andRead More →

Top 10 Most Expensive Rail Routes by Price per km

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Rail pricing – a global comparison There are some things in life you can be sure of – death, taxes and UK rail fares going up every year. By coincidence, I was just finishing up a quick bit of research on rail journey prices and cost over distance, when news of the latest price hike broke. In this article, the claim that the UK has the highest rail fares in Europe is investigated. It is something I’ve often thought about, and how it compares globally, but is this true? The take from the ‘Reality Check’, is that the UK is the most expensive bought onRead More →

Capitals and Centres Map

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This part three of series on capital cities, exploring influences on their location and history. There will be maps. For the first part click here and for the second part click here. Historical Capital Whilst moves to new capitals and new geography is a strong pattern here, history plays its part too. The most recent country to change its capital is Burundi in 2018, when it moved its capital from the more populous Bujumbura, to the more central location Gitega, the seat of the kingdom of Burundi until its abolition in 1966. Similarly, when Italy became a unified country, the weight of history played itsRead More →

Map of USA for Washington DC, 1791,A New Capital for a New Nation

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This part two of series on capital cities, exploring influences on their location and history.  There will be maps. For the first part click here.  Continuing to break new ground Continuing a post independence from Britain theme, is the US planned capital of Washington D.C., designated by its namesake George and officially made the capital of the young United States in 1800. Its strategic position on the Potomac river in a trans-state location between Virginia and Maryland reflected, not just a central location in the then 13 newly independent colonies; but a compromise between Southern and Northern colonies, i.e. slave holding and free states. TheRead More →

HateCrimeWatch_India Map

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May 2019 – Quiz Time! So another month, another geography quiz on geographical related events which have occurred over the last month. You know the drill by now, so test how much you’ve been keeping up with the geographical news with this quiz below. Enjoy!   Happy Mapping, David  Read More →

Eurovision points from Finland

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And now the points from… I wasn’t even planning on another post about the Eurovision Song Contest and the voting geography of this crazy contest. However, messing around on data and geospatial visualisation platforms, and the urge became too strong. So twelve months on here I am again, examining the predictability of voting patterns. The Balkans bloc, the Scandinavian bloc, the former Soviet bloc – you know the drill, so I’ll spare going through the context again – I’ve explored this previously in 2018 and 2017.  Data viz for the Euroviz What’s new for this year are interactive data visualisations where you can explore a country’sRead More →