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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Surpassing goals With a matter of hours to go before the month long football extravaganza begins in Moscow, it seems an opportune moment to look at the relationship between the beautiful game and the beautiful subject (geography if you were wondering). This is a topic I have looked at previously, examining the relationship between economic power (through GDP at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)) and footballing prowess (through FIFA World Rankings). On the eve of the World Cup, it is time to revisit the current state of play. With two web maps, we can look at those who have qualified, past successes of countries, travel distances, andRead More →

Global Chocolate Consumption per Capita (2018)

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I Should Cocoa… Ugh. I’ve had too much chocolate. I’m writing this on Easter Sunday, surrounded by temptation in the form of several variations and combinations of chocolate, as is customary in the Western world at this time of year. It turns out you can have too much of a good thing – real ‘first world problems’. Talking of #firstworldproblems, chocolate addiction really is an issue for the developed world, where chocolate consumption is at its highest in this part of world – maps bear this out. So given this time of  year, I thought it would be fitting to look into the geographical patternsRead More →

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Football is perhaps the true global game, but is it played on a level playing field, particularly economically? Most of you probably know the answer to this, but the relationship between performance and strength economically, and sporting ability and opportunity is still an interesting one. National team football is a better way to analyse this, given the great financial disparities in club football to buy the best talent and that national identity is a more static attribute. Now, I realise that some may love football/sport, some may loathe or have little interest for it. However, exploring the relationship between football and economics tells us something deeperRead More →