1. Map Projections, Scale,
and Manipulation

2. All Maps Lie....
Because the world is a sphere and maps are flat, there will always be some degree of distortion. The next several slides will display some of the more popular distortions.

9. Types of
Thematic
Maps

10. Dot Maps

11. Isoline Maps

12. Choropleth maps

13. Cartogram

14. Cartogram

15. Proportional Symbol
US Population

16. Problems with Scale
In the next few slides, see if you can identify the problems when map scale is skewed or manipulated.

22. Format of Many pre-1914 German School Atlases

23. Comparative Size of Germany and USA in 1914

24. Maps from
Other Points
of View

25. Map from a Palestinian Authority textbook

27. Scale
Displaying the same geographical features at various scales may also depict misleading results.

28. Scale Scale may be displayed in many different ways. New York Times
Nytimes.com

29. This map shows the total number of African-Americans per state
This map shows the total number of African-Americans per state. Examine Georgia.

30. In the previous slide, Georgia had one of the highest number of African-Americans, but a closer look tells a different picture. The dark red is the Atlanta metropolitan area.

31. Using Census Tracts of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, a different scale gives different results.

33. Manipulating
Data
Data may also distort desired results. The following slides show how population of a particular cohort may be misleading.

34. This map shows the percentage of African-Americans living within counties across the US.

35. This map shows the total number of African-Americans living in each county across the US.

36. These four New York counties (New York, Kings, Queens, and Bronx) have a combined African-American population of 2,121,882 and outnumbers the total number of African-Americans in the entire state of Texas 2,021,632

38. A similar comparison can be made with Hispanics living in the US
A similar comparison can be made with Hispanics living in the US. This map shows the total percentage of Hispanics in each county.

39. This map displays the total number of Hispanics in each US county.

40. These three Southern California counties (Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego) have a total Hispanic population of 5,045,726 which is greater than the total Hispanic population of Texas at 4,339,905. New Mexico has the greatest percentage of Hispanics (33%), it’s total Hispanic population is 579,224.

41. US Population
The map below shows the US population divided into Natural Breaks. In this case, the natural breaks are near the 7,000,000 mark.

42. US Population
This map shows US population in Quintiles. In this map, states are classified into five separate categories based on population. The dark red represents the states in the top one-fifth. The total population in each state has not changed; however, the way that it is classified has changed.

43. Natural Breaks
Quintile

44. How Big Is That?
The next few slides present a better picture of how other places compare to the US

45. Source: flowingdata.com

46. West Virginia Population: 1,900,000
Monongalia County Population: 80,000

47. Population of Monongalia County Communities
Morgantown: 28,000 Westover: 4,200
Granville: Cheat Lake: 4,000

48. Lebanon
Population: 3,000,000

49. Gaza Strip
Population: 730,000

50. North Korea
Population: 22,000,000

51. Israel
Population: 5,700,000

52. Iraq
Population: 21,000,000

53. Manhattan Island
Population: 1,700,000

54. Yukon-Koyukuk County, Alaska
Population: 7,900

55. Washington, DC
Population: 600,000