# data[].attributes.body
I really like the side by side design rather than layers, potentially this could have an option for 1-4 windows

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View georeferenced historic maps in a split-screen viewer side-by-side with other map layers

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A comprehensive guide on colors for mapping and data visualization:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2013/08/05/subtleties-of-color-part-1-of-6/

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Screenshot 2022-02-22 at 16-09-27 Chris Alexa Facebook

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https://heatmap.data.gov.scot/custom/heatmap/

Mapping the supply and demand of energy in Scotland. Clean, accessible, mobile friendly UI, with quite a lot of rich functionality, without overwhelming the user experience. Great links to metadata (embedded directly and linking out to SSDI) for data provenance.

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https://ux-patterns.webgeodatavore.com (only a published copy of website now down)

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This site presents some design patterns for visualizing and scenarizing content with maps. Each pattern is associated with the problem(s) it solves. The patterns are being spotted and described on GitHub by a set of contributors.

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https://mn.gov/mnit/about-mnit/accessibility/maps/

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Maps should be usable and understandable for everyone. When creating a map, you should consider how users in different situations, such as color vision deficiency, visual impairment, cultural understanding will interact with your map.

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A donation to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (one of the founders of Missing Maps) can help support local people to map their own communities, develop tools and processes so that more people can contribute, and scale this work so that even more responders and humanitarian organisations around the world have maps and open data that enable them to make time-critical, data-driven decisions.

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Putting the World's Vulnerable People on the Map

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Where to expand forests and woodlands in Scotland

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Where to expand forests and woodlands in Scotland

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Where should we expand our forests and woodlands? Multi-Criteria Analysis can help us decide (arcgis.com)

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This story map was created with the Story Map Series application in ArcGIS Online.

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River levels, rainfall and sea data (naturalresources.wales)

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About river levels online

We publish the information about river levels so people living in flood risk areas are better informed and can decide what actions to take as the water levels change.

Anglers and boaters will also be able to use this information to check the water levels before they set off.

Read through our help guide to learn more about our river level online map, how to use its features, where our data comes from and how we use it. Please contact us if you need any information.

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We publish the information about river levels so people living in flood risk areas are better informed and can decide what actions to take as the water levels change. Anglers and boaters will also be able to use this information to check the water levels before they set off.

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Windy: Wind map & weather forecast

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Weather radar, wind and waves forecast for kiters, surfers, paragliders, pilots, sailors and anyone else. Worldwide animated weather map, with easy to use layers and precise spot forecast. METAR, TAF and NOTAMs for any airport in the World. SYNOP codes from weather stations and buoys.

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Flightradar24: Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map

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Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

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The world's most popular flight tracker. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight status & airport information.

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Detailed maps & routes to explore the great outdoors | OS Maps

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Discover hundreds of thousands of routes to walk, hike, run and cycle; or create your own with detailed mapping and route planning tools at your fingertips

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Another more mobile friendly iteration is being worked on offline by a Defra currently.

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Flood map for planning is an example of selecting an area, when high detail is required. 

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Flood map for planning is an example of selecting an area, when high detail is required. 

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Gi register, and Get flood warnings has an example in user testing for selecting an area with a low accuracy level required.

https://gi-register.herokuapp.com/gridtest

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https://www.ventusky.com/?p=54.2;-2.8;5&l=snow

Weather map application. Wind, rain, snow, temperatures. Everything.

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Places of Residence for Accused Witches (total named accused witches: 3141)

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Interface to a lot of marine data all in one place

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Interface to a lot of marine data all in one place

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To allow users to interact with a whole range of marine data and access the raw data to use in your own systems with your own data

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Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display

Skip to Content

This page is not available on your current device.
The UK MPA mapper page has not been optimised for use on a small mobile device. If you would like to view this page, please switch to a larger mobile device or computer.

If you are seeing this page in error please contact us.

Mapper Disabled

The mapper cannot be displayed because cookies are needed to display the map. Please click here to enable cookies.

Back to top

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MPA Mapper | JNCC - Adviser to Government on Nature Conservation

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Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display Skip to Content This page is not available on your current device. The UK MPA mapper page has not been optimised for use on a small mobile device. If you would like to view this page, please switch to a larger mobile device or computer.

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This map shows where the sewerage network discharges treated effluent and overflows of untreated effluent and storm water into rivers in England & Wales. Avoid entering the water immediately downstream of these discharges and avoid the overflows (brown circles), especially after it has been raining.…

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I think it's good at overlaying information that is useful to users, and has made clever choices to show lots of different information at once

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Latest weather conditions and forecasts for the UK and the world. Includes up to 14-days of hourly forecast information, warnings, maps, and the latest editorial analysis and videos from the BBC Weather Centre.

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Lots of layers of information that can be combined.

https://map.cornwall.gov.uk

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John Hopkins Covid dashboard
Even though the user can only see one map all the data shown in this dashboard has a spatial element

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Ways of showing different types of data on a map

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Ways of showing different types of data on a map

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I have plotted routes using this (in view ranger) and it automatically links the route using cycle friendly ways OpenCycleMap.org - the OpenStreetMap Cycle Map

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OpenCycleMap.org - the OpenStreetMap Cycle Map

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Share your current view of the map! (Permalink) Edit OpenStreetMap data here Maps ©Thunderforest, Data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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Sometimes a map might not be needed. What do you use then? Alan Smith produced the Visual Vocabulary recently and is really useful in understanding what chart to use when and is a map needed?

Download it here https://www.ft.com/content/c7bb24c9-964d-479f-ba24-03a2b2df6e85

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We spent quite a lot of time trying to add keyboard only access to our online map catalogue to allow users to navigate and download data from the map using the keyboard.

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Scottish LiDAR Remote Sensing datasets | Scottish Government

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The map is made for desktop devices.Please increase your screen size and ensure your browser zoom level is set to normal.

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Global forest watch – deforestation and fires 

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Global forest watch – deforestation and fires 

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https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/

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Interactive World Forest Map & Tree Cover Change Data | GFW

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Explore the state of forests worldwide by analyzing tree cover change on GFW’s interactive global forest map using satellite data. Learn about deforestation rates and other land use practices, forest fires, forest communities, biodiversity and much more.

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Plan, Find & Share your perfect tracks. Create your first route with Bikemap - it’s free!

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Multi-agency interaction in real time with mapping and databasehttp://www.sarcall.com/?C=M;O=A

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Multi-agency interaction in real time with mapping and databasehttp://www.sarcall.com/?C=M;O=A

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What We Are
SARCALL is the leading Multi-Agency Search and Rescue (SAR) Incident Management Platform used by UK Mountain Rescue, Lowland Search, Cave Rescue Teams together with large numbers of Police Forces, Ambulance, Helimed and other Agencies.
With more than 24,000 land UK and RoI Search and Rescue operations managed via SARCALL, it is trusted by 135+ SAR Teams/Groups, 17 Police Forces, 5 Regional Ambulance Services, 4 Helimed Organisations and the RAF Mountain Rescue Service to help deliver their SAR operations.

What We Do
Through alignment with the key JESIP principles of Interoperability, Communication, Coordination and Shared Situational Awareness, SARCALL delivers a highly robust, secure and efficient platform for managing operations varying in scale from single Team to large Regional operations such as wide-area flood events.

How We Do It Through the secure web interface, SARCALL enables Users to easily interact with a range of client devices such as smartphones, tablets, PCs and terminals to suit the particular operational requirements.

Some Category 1 and 2 Users Of SARCALL North Wales Police, Cumbria Police, Police Scotland, North Yorks Police, NPAS, RAF Mountain Rescue Service, North West Ambulance Service, Welsh Ambulance Service, Great North Air Ambulance, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (Wales), Greater Manchester Police, Cumbria Fire And Rescue Service, ARCC at the HMCG NMOC.

Some SARCALL Facilities

Multi-Agency Incident Log enabling sharing of situational awareness amongst authorised Users together with the upload of files, images documents etc., into the log records.

An extensive SMS selective group messaging engine enables robust delivery of your critical messages to the right people.

Detailed per-Team contact lists enable easy communication to Team leaders and access to key information about the Teams.

An OS mapping engine enables viewing of GPS-tracked Team assets down to street level.

Contact Us

For more information please email us at: Send Mail

©2021 SARCALL Ltd. Registered Company No. 08655590 in England and Wales.

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What We Are SARCALL is the leading Multi-Agency Search and Rescue (SAR) Incident Management Platform used by UK Mountain Rescue, Lowland Search, Cave Rescue Teams together with large numbers of Police Forces, Ambulance, Helimed and other Agencies.

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Flood map information - note that they don't automatically put info into a map, rather, this is an option for users who feel comfortable with it?

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Flood map information - note that they don't automatically put info into a map, rather, this is an option for users who feel comfortable with it?

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I like how you can customise the map

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IMA Infrastructure Mapping Application for London

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Another example where it allows the user to draw their area of interest and the maps returns what they need to be aware of in within that area

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We use essential cookies to give you the best online experience. Without them, this service will not work.

We also use non-essential cookies to analyse site usage to continually improve the services we provide you with.

Full details of cookies collected, and the functionality to change your cookie preference at any time can be accessed on our Cookie Policy Page

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We use essential cookies to give you the best online experience. Without them, this service will not work. We also use non-essential cookies to analyse site usage to continually improve the services we provide you with.

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Making it easier to communicate with the community

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Electric vehicle charger locations

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UK map of electric car charging points

Find an EV charger near you

Zapmap is a UK-wide map of electric car charging points that helps electric car drivers locate and navigate to their nearest EV charging point. Drivers can search and filter for electric car charging points, as well as plan electric routes with the smart route planner.

Robert Llewellyn

Hayley Thompson

Add Zapmap to your website

You can now add our charge point map to your website and help your customers find charge points wherever they are.

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Map of electric charging points for electric cars UK: Zapmap

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UK-wide map of electric car charging points allowing EV drivers to find EV charge points and plan electric journeys to the nearest charging point.

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More complex interaction demo from Ordnance Survey

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More complex interaction demo from Ordnance Survey

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https://labs.os.uk/prototyping/osel-framework/template/mapbox-gl.html

Again, the interface adjusts to device size. This one has location search, layer ordering, changing the properties of a layer (opacity), showing grid reference information, and a map style picker. Added by Steve Attewell

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Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2021

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Location information from Dorset Council

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DorsetExplorer - Maps and Local Information for Dorset Council including Rights of Way, Highways, Aerial Photography and much more

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Search for schools and colleges to compare 

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Search for schools and colleges to compare 

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You can choose to use your current location so that you don't need to interact with a map at all.

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Ofsted data incorrect?

It typically takes 1 to 2 months, and can take longer in some circumstances, for Ofsted data to be made available and updated here following an inspection.
For the very latest Ofsted data, please visit the Ofsted website

School information incorrect?

Information such as headteacher's name, school website, address, location on the map, gender, age-range and school type also typically take 1 to 2 months to be updated here after first being updated, by the school, in Get information about schools. If information is incorrect in Get information about schools, please report it to the school.

Report a problem

This form is for reporting problems with the Find and Compare Schools In England section of the GOV.UK website.

Don't include any personal or financial information, for example your National Insurance number or credit card details.

To make a complaint about a school, or a general complaint or enquiry, contact the Department for Education . Illegal behaviour should be reported to the police.

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Search for schools and colleges to compare - GOV.UK - Find and compare schools in England

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It typically takes 1 to 2 months, and can take longer in some circumstances, for Ofsted data to be made available and updated here following an inspection.

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Apple Interaction principles for Carplay

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Apple Interaction principles for Carplay

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UI design for cars is designed to support brief interactions with minimal interaction - could be helpful when thinking about creating simple mapping interfaces?

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Introduction

iPhone apps that appear on the car's built-in display are optimized for the driving environment and meet the unique demands of the car. The best apps support brief interactions and never command the driver's attention. On-screen information is minimal, relevant, and requires little decision making. Voice interaction using Siri enables drivers to control many apps without taking their hands off the steering wheel or eyes off the road. Well-known iOS paradigms, including interface elements, icons, text appearance, and terminology provide a familiar, intuitive experience.

iPhone apps like Maps, Messages, Music, and Phone display car-appropriate interfaces that look great in CarPlay and are easy to operate while driving. The audio app, automaker app, messaging app, or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) app you design should be just as simple and easy to operate.

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Introduction - CarPlay - Human Interface Guidelines - Apple Developer

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iPhone apps that appear on the car's built-in display are optimized for the driving environment and meet the unique demands of the car. The best apps support brief interactions and never command the driver's attention. On-screen information is minimal, relevant, and requires little decision making.

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https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/newsroom/blog/try-our-new-os-open-zoomstack-styles-for-colour-blind-users

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Unless you're colour blind, you are unlikely to be aware of the problems which cartographic styles and colour schemes cause for those affected by CVD. Colours usually easily distinguishable to the human eye, such as red and green, appear very similar and can make elements of map reading more difficult. The issue is often overlooked, with traditional spectral rainbow colour schemes kicking up several difficulties for those with colour blindness.

During my first few weeks at OS on the Graduate Development Programme, I've been learning how we can improve the accessibility of data. I decided to start by developing free downloadable styles for our popular OS Open Zoomstack product - an exciting project to work on.

What is colour-blindness?

Colour blindness comes in several forms - meaning one colour scheme is unlikely to be suitable for all colour-blind people. The most common form - red-green blindness (also known as deuteranopia and protanopia) affects around 8% of men and 0.4% of women. The gender imbalance is caused by the number of X chromosomes in men compared to women. People with this form of CVD have trouble telling red and green hues apart.

Blue-yellow blindness (tritanopia) is much less common, affecting <1% of men and women. This makes it hard to distinguish between blue and green colours, as well as yellow and reds.

Although this may seem like a small portion of the population, online maps are likely to reach tens of thousands of people with CVD. We know that people depend on OS data and wanted to maximise accessibility and ease of use both for people with CVD, and those without. I created these styles with both groups in mind, making changes to the traditional styles we all know and love that will work much better for colour blind people.

Creating CVD-friendly maps

I started the process by assessing the layers which could be easily confused. Key layers causing issues included woodland and greenspace, as well as motorways and waterways - not ideal if mixed up! I tested several colourways alongside colour-blind colleagues as I'm not colour blind myself. The process was really enlightening as to how OS products can be made more CVD-friendly. I found that increasing the contrast between layers worked well, as distinguishing between different contrasts of the same hue is something that those with CVD tend to manage.

"All of the built-up areas are easier to distinguish...and the water in the images has a better contrast in the red-green styling...particularly clear with the rivers as they stand out more against their backdrop."
- Feedback from a colleague during the consultation process
After this analysis and internal testing, we created the first version of two new CVD-friendly styles. One is targeted towards those with red-green blindness, and the other towards blue-yellow. These styles are available in .lyr .qml and .sld formats and you can download them from GitHub for free.

Download our new CVD-friendly styles and give us your feedback

We want your feedback on these new styles, to help us make further improvements, for potential future releases.

Developing these initial styles is a real push forward for accessible open mapping. OS Open Zoomstack is a flexible mapstack covering the whole of Great Britain, providing scope for a plethora of different applications. The vector tiles make it is easy to manipulate, allowing for seamless extraction of data tailored to your needs. You can download it and use it in a range of GIS software via our website.

Please let us know what you think of the new styles - whether you are colour blind or not. We're keen to know what you think so that we can continue to improve the quality and accessibility of our data.

Get started

Sharing the latest news about OS. We can license you to use OS maps in print, online and film format. For more information and resources for journalists, bloggers and media professionals, email pressoffice@os.uk or call 023 8005 5565.

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Try Our New OS Open Zoomstack Styles For Colour Blind Users | Blog

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Unless you're colour blind, you are unlikely to be aware of the problems which cartographic styles and colour schemes cause for those affected by CVD. Colours usually easily distinguishable to the human eye, such as red and green, appear very similar and can make elements of map reading more difficult.

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Service uses 'maps' as a secondary way of finding the information for more inclusivity and accessibility.

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Skip to main content

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We'd like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies

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Skip to main content We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We'd like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

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Are all public service customers using OS data as their backdrop mapping?

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Easy switch from list view (search by postcode) to map view

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Easy switch from list view (search by postcode) to map view

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Comprehensive route planning app - Komoot

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Comprehensive route planning app - Komoot

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Good for travel that's not motorised

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App

Get the komoot app

Join 45 million outdoor enthusiasts: navigate, discover, adventure.

Based on more than 300k user ratings

Download komoot now

Visit the App Store, Google Play or scan the QR code with your phone to download instantly.

Login or Signup

Get the App

Get the komoot app

Join 45 million outdoor enthusiasts: navigate, discover, adventure.

Based on more than 300k user ratings

Download komoot now

Visit the App Store, Google Play or scan the QR code with your phone to download instantly.

Login or Signup

Discover our Collections

Browse the best outdoor-ready adventures; selected, curated and tested by komoot. Your own personal guide, they include everything from detailed routes to insider info - so you can just get out and go.

Step into the wild!

There's more out there than you think! From hidden trails to breathtaking viewpoints, discover the places and routes that don't make it into guidebooks.

Choose your tour, download it to your smartphone

Ready for your next adventure?

Your next favorite place is just a scroll away! Browse endless spots to walk, ride, or hike, and start planning your next adventure today.

Ready to explore?

Discover new routes

The best route planner out there. Simple as that.

50M +

Outdoor explorers in the komoot community

8M +

Routes in over 100 countries - for hikes, rides, and runs

850M +

Photos, tips, and highlights shared by the community

50M +

Outdoor explorers in the komoot community

8M +

Routes in over 100 countries - for hikes, rides, and runs

850M +

Photos, tips, and highlights shared by the community

50M +

Outdoor explorers in the komoot community

8M +

Routes in over 100 countries - for hikes, rides, and runs

850M +

Photos, tips, and highlights shared by the community

Explore the World

Let's go out!

We value your privacy ⛰️

We use cookies that are essential for the app and website to function correctly or are used to produce aggregated statistics. With your consent, we and our third-party partners will also use tracking technologies to improve the in-app and navigation experience, and to provide you with personalized services and content. To give your consent, tap Accept all cookies. Alternatively, you can customize your privacy settings by tapping Customize Preferences, or by going to Cookie Preferences at any time. If you don't want us to use non-technical tracking technologies, tap Refuse. For more information about how we process your personal data through cookies, take a look at our Privacy Policy.

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We use cookies that are essential for the app and website to function correctly or are used to produce aggregated statistics. With your consent, we and our third-party partners will also use tracking technologies to improve the in-app and navigation experience, and to provide you with personalized services and content. To give your consent, tap Accept all cookies. Alternatively, you can customize your privacy settings by tapping Customize Preferences, or by going to Cookie Preferences at any time. If you don't want us to use non-technical tracking technologies, tap Refuse. For more information about how we process your personal data through cookies, take a look at our Privacy Policy.

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Experience better adventures with the app

Enjoy turn-by-turn voice navigation, offline maps, and more with the komoot mobile app.

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Komoot | Find, plan and share your adventures

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Turn your next ride, hike, or run into an adventure with komoot. Get inspired by tapping into shared community knowledge and recommendations, then bring your adventures to life with the easy route planner.

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Select one of the SDGs to see it on the map

All data presented on this website are based on the publication Sachs, J.D., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., Drumm, E. (2023). Implementing the SDG Stimulus. Sustainable Development Report 2023. Paris: SDSN, Dublin: Dublin University Press, 2023. 10.25546/102924

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The Sustainable Development Report 2023 tracks the performance of all 193 UN Member States on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

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Map interaction demo from Ordnance Survey

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Map interaction demo from Ordnance Survey

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https://labs.os.uk/public/demos/osmm-topography-layer-descterm/

Demonstrates highlighting types fo feature, and interrogating features for more info. Added by Steve Attewell

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OS MasterMap Topography Layer - Descriptive Terms

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Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2021

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Report, view, and discuss local street-related problems.

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https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/live-migration-maps/

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Real-time analysis maps show intensities of actual nocturnal bird migration as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. All graphics are relative to the Eastern time zone. When present, the red line moving east to west represents the timing of local sunset, the yellow line represents the timing of local sunrise. Areas with lighter colors experienced more intense bird migration. Orange arrows show directions to which birds flew. Green dots represent radar locations for which data are available; red dots represent radar locations with no data available. Note that many radars in mountainous areas (e.g. the Rockies) have obstructions that restrict radar coverage, providing the appearance of no migration where migration may be occurring.

Brighter colors indicates a higher migration traffic rate (MTR) expressed in units birds/km/hour. The migration traffic rate indicates the number of birds per hour that fly across a one kilometer line transect on the earth's surface oriented perpendicular to the direction of movement of the birds.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produces these maps. Support for this research came from NASA, Edward W. Rose Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Amazon Web Services. The BirdCast project was created by grants from the National Science Foundation and supported by additional grants from Leon Levy Foundation.

To cite live migration map graphics, please use the following syntax:

Dokter, A. M. Year/s of live migration map image. BirdCast, live migration map; date and time (most easily accessible from image file name/s). Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/migration-forecast-maps. Date/s of access or download.

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See real-time analysis maps of intensities of actual nocturnal bird migration, as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produces these maps.

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Accessibility Statement for the Digimap website

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Digimap delivers maps and geospatial data from the Ordnance Survey (OS), the British Geological Survey (BGS), Landmark Historic maps, OceanWise marine mapping, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), and Getmapping aerial imagery

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Side by side viewer old historical maps with modern

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Side by side viewer old historical maps with modern

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Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland (nls.uk)

Really interesting for example to see if river meanders have moved

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I think we need to make sure that as well as principles we cover things off such as what colours should I use when displaying certain data (sequential, diverging etc.) a standard symbol set, what basemap should I use at what scale etc.

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GitHub - OrdnanceSurvey/GeoDataViz-Toolkit: The GeoDataViz Toolkit is a set of resources that will help you communicate your data effectively through the design of compelling visuals. In this repository we are sharing resources, assets and other useful links.

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The GeoDataViz Toolkit is a set of resources that will help you communicate your data effectively through the design of compelling visuals. In this repository we are sharing resources, assets and other useful links. - GitHub - OrdnanceSurvey/GeoDataViz-Toolkit: The GeoDataViz Toolkit is a set of resources that will help you communicate your data effectively through the design of compelling visuals.

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See lightning strikes in real time across the planet. Free access to maps of former thunderstorms. By Blitzortung.org and contributors.

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Waze maps (one of the most used ones after Google apparently)

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Waze maps (one of the most used ones after Google apparently)

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Old aerial photos e.g. from 1940s and their locations

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Old aerial photos e.g. from 1940s and their locations

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Aerial photos from around the UK and beyond (cambridgeairphotos.com)

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Aerial photos from around the UK and beyond

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https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1371/#/E07000223

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A detailed picture of disparities within English local authorities to a neighbourhood level

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https://github.com/OrdnanceSurvey/GeoDataViz-Toolkit

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GitHub - OrdnanceSurvey/GeoDataViz-Toolkit: The GeoDataViz Toolkit is a set of resources that will help you communicate your data effectively through the design of compelling visuals. In this repository we are sharing resources, assets and other useful links.

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The GeoDataViz Toolkit is a set of resources that will help you communicate your data effectively through the design of compelling visuals. In this repository we are sharing resources, assets and other useful links. - GitHub - OrdnanceSurvey/GeoDataViz-Toolkit: The GeoDataViz Toolkit is a set of resources that will help you communicate your data effectively through the design of compelling visuals.

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Simple map interaction demo - Ordnance Survey

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Simple map interaction demo - Ordnance Survey

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https://labs.os.uk/public/demos/open-zoomstack/

Shows map style changer, moving around a map and switching features on and off. Added By Steve Attewell

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OS Maps - Route planning for a variety of activities

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OS Maps - Route planning for a variety of activities

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You can set distances and difficulty also

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Detailed maps & routes to explore the great outdoors | OS Maps

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Discover hundreds of thousands of routes to walk, hike, run and cycle; or create your own with detailed mapping and route planning tools at your fingertips

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Map with layers to show transport options, facilities etc for different locations in the University of Edinburgh

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Map with layers to show transport options, facilities etc for different locations in the University of Edinburgh

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Unsure how this renders on phones, however, and how it works with low signal etc

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The University of Edinburgh has released a new online map to help students, staff, and visitors find their way around the University's estate.

The new map includes multiple layers covering comprehensive information on buildings, accessibility, campus hospitality services, and transport options.

www.ed.ac.uk/maps/maps

Users can search for and select buildings for further details on its address, its use, and its AccessAble accessibility guide. There are also controls to toggle different information layers on and off - these include bus and tram lines, cycling routes, bike parking, and EV chargers and disabled parking bays. One especially useful feature is the estimated walking and cycling time function. Users can turn on these layers and select an area of the University to see approximately how far you can travel in 5, 15, and 30 minutes time. The purpose is to show how easy it is for most journeys around the University to be made by foot or on bike.

Much of the University is within 30 minutes' walk from Pollock Halls

The new map was developed by EDINA, the University's world-class centre for data and digital expertise. It was the result of a collaborative project led by the University's Transport Office, working alongside the Space Management team in Estates, and the Communications & Marketing department.

The project was partially funded by the Smarter Choices Smarter Places Open Fund (administered by Paths For All on behalf of the Scottish Government) in order to improve awareness and communication of sustainable transport choices.

This release is the first phase of the mapping project; future updates will include new features and data layers, as well as refinements to the user interface.

Related Content
Campus Maps Smarter Choices Smarter Places Open Fund

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The University of Edinburgh has released a new online map to help students, staff, and visitors find their way around the University's estate. The new map includes multiple layers covering comprehensive information on buildings, accessibility, campus hospitality services, and transport options.

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The University of Edinburgh campus maps, location and travel information.

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Search and find University buildings with our campus map search tool.

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https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=55.94940&lon=-3.08309&layers=1&right=ESRIWorld

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View georeferenced historic maps in a split-screen viewer side-by-side with other map layers

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Terms of Use for PSGA Members

If you are a member of the Public Sector GeoSpatial Agreement, the data in the FindMyStreet service is made available to you under the data sharing provisions within the PSGA Member Licence. You are therefore licensed to use the data in accordance with your PSGA Member Licence.

Terms of Use for non-PSGA Members

If you are not a member of the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement, your use of the data is governed by the End User Licence below:

End User Licence

This End User Licence will take effect on click acceptance by the End User. This End User Licence will be between you, the End User, and GeoPlace (acting for and on behalf of the Licensor).

Background:

The Streets Data comprises, or was created using, OS data. This End User Licence is entered into pursuant to the Licensor's licence with OS, to set out the terms upon which the End User is licensed to use Streets Data. GeoPlace is acting as a contractor to, and on behalf of, the relevant Local Highway Authority.

1. Definitions & interpretations

Commercial Activity

means any activity which involves or is intended to involve Financial Gain.

Competing Activity

means an activity that OS, GeoPlace or the Licensor notifies to the End User as being a Competing Activity from time to time.

Core Business

means any of the Licensor's public sector activity, excluding any Commercial Activity and Competing Activity.

Financial Gain

means any revenue or credit received which exceeds the incremental costs of supplying or making available to a recipient any copy of any Streets Data. Financial Gain does not include any receipts from Statutory Charges.

End User

means you, the recipient of the Streets Data.

End User Purpose

means the End User using the data to respond to, or interact with the Licensor, to notify the Licensor of streets which you believe may be missing from the Licensor's information, or to provide feedback to the Licensor concerning Public Rights of Way in the Licensor's jurisdiction, in all cases for personal, non-commercial use.

GeoPlace

means GeoPlace LLP, registered in England and wales, with registration number OC359627, whose registered office is at Explorer House, Adanac Drive, SOUTHAMPTON, SO16 0AS.

IPR

means intellectual property rights, including copyright, patent, trade mark, design right, database rights, trade secrets, know how, rights of confidence and all other similar rights anywhere in the world whether or not registered and including applications for registration of any of them.

Licensor

means the public body (being the relevant Local Highway Authority) on whose behalf GeoPlace has made Streets Data available to the End User on the terms of this End User Licence.

OS

means Ordnance Survey Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company registration number 09121572) whose registered address is at Explorer House, Adanac Drive, SOUTHAMPTON, SO16 0AS.

Statutory Charge

means charges which the Licensor or End User is expressly permitted to charge pursuant to a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and/or Northern Ireland to which the Licensor or End User is subject.

Streets Data

means the data included on the findmystreet web service, provided by the Licensor (via GeoPlace) to the End User under the terms of this End User Licence.

Term

means the period required to fulfil the End User Purpose.

Working Day

means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

2. Licence

1. GeoPlace, on behalf of the Licensor, grants to the End User a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence (revocable pursuant to the terms of this End User Licence) to use Streets Data for the End User Purpose for the Term.

2. This Licence is limited specifically to the rights granted in Clause 2.1 and subject to the obligations set out in the remainder of this Licence, in particular the End User's obligations set out in Clause 3. This Licence allows the End User personally (not any affiliated body or group) to use Streets Data only to the extent required for the End User Purpose, but does not allow the End User to use Streets Data for any Competing Activity or Commercial Activity.

3. End User's Obligations

1. Either party may terminate this End User Licence with immediate effect at any time by giving notice to the other party in writing. The End User acknowledges that GeoPlace, on behalf of the Licensor, will terminate this End User Licence in the event that the Licensor's licence with OS is terminated or expires.

2. The End User shall:
a) ensure that the Streets Data is not copied, adapted, varied or modified except to and only to the extent to which any of those acts are expressly permitted by this Licence;
b) ensure that it does not use the Streets Data for any Competing Activity or Commercial Activity;
c) not use Streets Data for any illegal, deceptive, misleading or unethical purpose or otherwise in any manner which may be detrimental to the reputation of Streets Data or any person;
d) use its best endeavours to use adequate technological and security measures OS, GeoPlace or the Licensor may reasonably recommend from time to time, to ensure that all Streets Data which the End User holds or is responsible for are secure from unauthorised use or access;
e) notify the Licensor and/or OS and/or GeoPlace as soon as it suspects any infringement of OS's IPR and give the Licensor and OS and GeoPlace all reasonably required assistance in pursuing any potential infringement or remedying any unauthorised use; and
f) not alter or remove any of the OS copyright / database right notices and licence numbers which are shown on the Streets Data.

3. This End User Licence does not give the End User the right to sub-license, distribute, sell or otherwise make available the Streets Data to third parties in any form save where expressly permitted in writing by the Licensor, OS and GeoPlace.

4. To be clear, the End User is not entitled to create any products or services which have benefitted from, relied on or made any use of Streets Data (including, without limitation, where the End User has created products or services by copying, publishing, modifying, re-formatting, analysing or performing searches, look ups or enquiries using Streets Data). The End User agrees that, if it wants to make Streets Data available in this way, the End User will inform GeoPlace and will not proceed until the parties have agreed the basis on which that can happen.

4. Termination

1. Either party may terminate this End User Licence with immediate effect at any time by giving notice to the other party in writing. The End User acknowledges that GeoPlace, on behalf of the Licensor, will terminate this End User Licence in the event that the Licensor's licence with OS is terminated or expires.

2. In the event of termination or expiry of this End User Licence, the End User shall within 30 days of such termination or expiry destroy (or at OS's or the Licensor's option return) all the Streets Data in any media which it holds or for which it is responsible (including any Streets Data embedded in any other material) and provide, at OS's or the Licensor's request, a sworn statement by a duly authorised person that it no longer holds any Streets Data.

3. Those Clauses intended to survive termination or expiry (including, without limitation, Clauses 1, 3.2 d) and e), 4.2, 4.3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11 and 12) shall continue in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination or expiry.

5. Limitation

1. Subject to Clause 5.2, nothing in this Licence shall make the GeoPlace or the Licensor or OS liable in contract, tort (including without limitation negligence, pre-contractual or other representations) or otherwise arising out of or in connection with this Licence for:
a) any economic losses (including without limitation loss of revenues, profits, contracts, business or anticipated savings);
b) any loss of goodwill or reputation;
c) any special, indirect or consequential losses in any case whether or not such losses were within the contemplation of the parties at the date of this Licence.

2. Nothing in this Licence shall exclude or limit liability of a party for death or personal injury resulting from the negligence of that party or its servants, agents or employees or for fraudulent misrepresentation.

3. The Licensor, OS and GeoPlace exclude to the fullest extent permissible by law all express or implied warranties.

4. Subject to Clause 5.2, GeoPlace's (acting on behalf of the Licensor) total liability in this Licence in aggregate shall not exceed any sum paid by the End User for the Streets Data.

6. Indemnity

1. The End User shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Licensor and/or OS and/or GeoPlace against all their liabilities and losses and all demands, liabilities, claims made, or proceedings brought, against the Licensor and/or OS and/or GeoPlace in respect of any loss or damage and against all costs and expenses reasonably incurred in dealing with or in settling such demands, liabilities, claims or proceedings arising from the acts, omissions or defaults of the End User relating to this Licence or from the breach of any provision of this Licence by the End User except to the extent that any such liability is directly attributable to any negligent act of the Licensor.

2. GeoPlace, acting on behalf of the Licensor, shall use reasonable endeavours to notify the End User as soon as practicable of any demand or claim made, or proceedings brought against the Licensor, GeoPlace or OS in respect of any relevant loss or damage.

7. Variation
GeoPlace, on behalf of the Licensor, shall be entitled to vary this End User Licence with immediate effect by giving notice in writing to the End User.

8. Auditing

1. Upon OS's or the Licensor's or GeoPlace's written request, the End User shall provide written evidence of compliance with its obligations under this End User Licence.

2. The End User shall maintain accurate and complete records of its use of the Streets Data. OS and/or the Licensor (and their respective representatives, including GeoPlace) have the right on reasonable notice during business hours to enter the End User's premises and to inspect and audit its systems, operations and all supporting documentation to ensure the End User's compliance with this End User Licence and to take copies of any necessary records. The End User shall, at its expense, make appropriate employees and facilities available to provide OS and/or GeoPlace (acting on behalf of the Licensor) with all reasonable assistance to enable such inspection, auditing and copying to take place.

3. The End User will comply with reasonable measures stipulated by OS or GeoPlace (acting on behalf of the Licensor) as a result of any audit.

9. Assignment, subcontracting and sublicensing
Except as agreed in writing by OS, neither party is entitled to assign, license, transfer or novate any of their rights and/or obligations under this End User Licence.

10. Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

1. Subject to Clause 10.2, a person who is not a party to this End User Licence has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce or enjoy the benefit of any term of this End User Licence.

2. OS shall be entitled to the benefit of the terms of this End User Licence and the rights to enforce such terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

11. Waiver
The waiver on a particular occasion by either party of rights under this End User Licence does not imply that other rights will be waived. No delay in exercising any right under this End User Licence shall constitute a waiver of such right.

12. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
This End User Licence is governed by the law of England and Wales and both parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

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Find which local authority has street maintenance responsibilty

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If you are a member of the Public Sector GeoSpatial Agreement, the data in the FindMyStreet service is made available to you under the data sharing provisions within the PSGA Member Licence. You are therefore licensed to use the data in accordance with your PSGA Member Licence.

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Swiss service swisstopo have a great resource for accessing a real world view of anywhere across Switzerland.

https://map.geo.admin.ch

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https://www.findmyaddress.co.uk/

Useful for searching for UPRNs and Address data to check local data against a national resource.

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Use FindMyAddress to search for the official address, UPRN and location of every property in England, Scotland and Wales.

The data is created and maintained by local authorities, collected and managed centrally by GeoPlace and published by Ordnance Survey as AddressBase®.

FindMyAddress is for personal, non-commercial use only. You can perform up to 30 searches every day, free of charge. Need more searches?

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Use FindMyAddress to search for the official address, UPRN and location of every property in England, Scotland and Wales. The data is created and maintained by local authorities, collected and managed centrally by GeoPlace and published by Ordnance Survey as AddressBase®. FindMyAddress is for personal, non-commercial use only.

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https://www.widenmypath.com/

Users can easily search for locations and add markers to engage with the map subject.

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To help keep us safe, the government has announced that councils should be creating new cycleways and wider pavements for physical distancing.

We need your help to identify where these are most needed. Add your idea!

Where are cycleways and wider pavements for distancing needed?
Or browse the map ⟴

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Widen My Path - suggest more space for physical distancing

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To help keep us safe, the government has announced that councils should be creating new cycleways and wider pavements for physical distancing. We need your help to identify where these are most needed. Add your idea! Where are cycleways and wider pavements for distancing needed? Or browse the map ⟴

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https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=6/54.910/-3.432

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You are either using a browser that does not support JavaScript, or you have disabled JavaScript.

OpenStreetMap uses JavaScript for its slippy map.

https://openstreetmap.org/copyright

https://openstreetmap.org

Copyright OpenStreetMap and contributors, under an open license

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OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.

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Map with overlay to show locations on a historic map and a modern one

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Map with overlay to show locations on a historic map and a modern one

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Shows locations in Edinburgh where Frederick Douglass visited

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Frederick Douglass in Edinburgh map viewer - Our Bondage and Our Freedom - National Library of Scotland / Edinburgh University

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1. Frederick Douglass in Edinburgh: Scotland’s Antislavery Agent

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Shows position of ships

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MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic

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MarineTraffic Live Ships Map. Discover information and vessel positions for vessels around the world. Search the MarineTraffic ships database of more than 550000 active and decommissioned vessels. Search for popular ships globally. Find locations of ports and ships using the near Real Time ships map…

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Cross-platform map interface demo from Ordnance Survey

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Cross-platform map interface demo from Ordnance Survey

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https://labs.os.uk/public/demos/osmm-highways-network/

Shows panels and pop-ups changing layout and behaviour depending on screen size. Added by Steve Attewell

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"I want to identify where people are speeding. Which links have a weekend average speed greater than the speed limit?"

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Clear and easy to to read key

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Find my local scheme | Neighbourhood Watch Network

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If you live in Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Flintshire, Harrow, Hertfordshire, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth all your schemes may not show.

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https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map/cases

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Layouts – UI Patterns for Map Applications (mapuipatterns.com)

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UI patterns are solutions that solve common and recurring design problems and serve as reference points for future design efforts. Read more...

Map UI Patterns is the work of Michael Gaigg, Lead User Interface Engineer at Esri 's Professional Services division. After more than 27 years of designing web applications and with over 18 years of experience designing map applications he has seen the same problems over and over again. His goal is to share these experiences so other designers/developers don't have to 're-invent the wheel' again.

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Layouts - UI Patterns for Map Applications

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UI patterns are solutions that solve common and recurring design problems and serve as reference points for future design efforts. Read more... Map UI Patterns is the work of Michael Gaigg, Lead User Interface Engineer at Esri 's Professional Services division.

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A blog exploring:
• data
• accessibility
• design

Some key principles:
• do you really need a map?
• start with black and white - colour shouldn't represent something alone
•make things simple
• test, test, test

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Benjy Stanton
Designing accessible interactive maps is hard. I don't think I could point to any single thing that I've worked on that covers all of the things mentioned here. But, if I was going to start a brand new project, with plenty of time to get things right, this is where I'd start.

The following isn't perfect, I'm really just sharing my workings so far. I hope that if you can see something is wrong or missing, you'll point it out. I'll definitely iterate and add to this post in future.

Accessible map overview

First, decide if you really need a map

Make sure information in the map is available elsewhere

Keep the map simple

Design the map in black and white first

Follow web best practice (semantic HTML, progressive enhancement)

Break the map down into layers (features, dialogues, controls, backgrounds, supporting information)

Test the map with different browsers and devices including mobiles and keyboards

First, decide if you really need a map

Maps are complicated, both for the people using them, and the teams building them. Do user research to make sure you really need a map.

Make sure information in the map is available elsewhere

It's useful to remember that maps, no matter how well done, are an exclusive tool. They require digital literacy, geographic literacy and they rely on visual communication methods to present information. So they shouldn't be relied upon solely to communicate information to your users.

Think of maps as an enhancement to the service your building, the core content and functionality should be available without the map

Make sure that any information available via the map is also available via another accessible route (for example, in a nearby bit of text or data table, or in a downloadable spreadsheet)

Users of geospatial data might need to download the data in GeoJSON or Shapefile format so they can analyse it with GIS (geographic information system) software

Interactive maps often require JavaScript, so making sure information is available outside of the map is compatible with a progressive enhancement approach too

Aside: FixMyStreet uses HTML image maps to work even if the JavaScript doesn't work, thanks to Matthew Somerville for pointing this out

Keep the map simple

Break content down into multiple pages or sections that meet specific needs, rather than having a single map that contains all of the things

Avoid complex interactive maps if you don't need them, for example a static inline SVG might be enough in some cases

Don't add panning and zooming and multiple layers if you just need to display a single area and its boundary

Design maps in black in white first

Don't use colour alone to convey meaning. Using red and green to convey "good and bad" without labels is a classic bad example of this. I find that designing in black and white first helps me to do this, then I add colour later, as an enhancement.

Directly label things where possible, or use a separate legend or key, if direct labelling is not possible

Consider using shading or cross-hatch patterns instead of colour fills

Consider using unique line styles, for example dotted or dashed lines

Use high contrast colours clear enough to read (avoid light greys)

If legends/keys are used, make sure they work in black and white too

Break the map down into layers

Interactive maps are made up of multiple layers:

features (points or areas of interest)

dialogues (for detailed information)

controls (for example zoom buttons)

background maps

supporting information (for example small print)

I like to break down the map, then think about how to make each layer more accessible.

It may be very hard to make maps 100% accessible for everyone, but by considering each component part I think there is plenty of room for improvement and reasonable adjustment.

Features (points or areas of interest)

Features are the points of interest on the map. The individual data points that users are most interested in. They could be points that mark the location of a town, a line that follows the path of a river or a polygon that maps the outline of a local authority. Often they'll have short text labels that are always visible.

Interactive lines (for example rivers or roads) should be thick enough and high contrast enough to see

Interactive elements should be large enough to click on

You can add clickable labels to lines if the lines themselves are so thin they are hard to tap or click on

Allow users to zoom in, so that selecting the area they need becomes easier

Make sure interactive elements have clear affordance or example, if a label is a link to new page, style it to look like a link (blue and underlined) and use semantic HTML (<a> instead of a <div>)

Add clear hover style for interactive elements, for example change the line thickness, tint and mouse cursor

Any interactive elements of the map should have a clear focus style

If elements are not interactive, they should have a different visual treatment (for example black and white text without an underline)

Dialogues (for detailed information)

A benefit of interactive maps is that you can progressively disclose details when the user needs, so they don't get bombarded with everything all at once.

Avoid using tool tips that only appear on mouse hover

Dialogues need to be keyboard accessible too

Map controls

Map controls are the buttons, form elements and gestures that the allow users to manipulate how they view the map.

Common controls include the ability to zoom and pan the map

Test to make sure these controls are available to all input types, for example mouse, touch, keyboard and voice

Use visible text labels, not just icons, for less common controls like toggling full screen mode

Make sure to follow best practice for web forms when adding custom controls (like adding a select menu to change the background map layer)

Background maps

The background map contains extra context. They typically depict large water bodies, land masses and can include labels for important landmarks like cities.

The images might be generated from satellite photos or they can by stylised illustrations that are common in things like Google Maps.

If you have control of the background layer it's worth simplifying things down to exactly what you need.

Turn off any background layers you don't need, for example hide roads if your users don't need to see them

Make the text legible, for example increase size and contrast of labels for towns and cities

Choose background tiles that don't contrast too much with the foreground layers

Supporting information, map metadata and descriptive labels

Supporting text such copyright, source and license information is often overlooked in maps.

Make sure the text has sufficient size and contrast

Make sure links are styled to look like links

Icons, elements and sections need to have accessible text labels

Test the map with a mobile

Test the map with a keyboard

Consider adding a skip link, allowing keyboard users to skip the map completely. Skip link are more commonly used to skip the main navigation, but could be adapted for this purpose too. Read about skip links in the GOV.UK design system.

Make sure to check all interactive elements are available to keyboard users. For example users will need to interact with the map controls (like zoom buttons and full screen toggles) as well as any interactive features like points and polygons.

Do a range of testing

This blog post isn't an exhaustive list of ways to meet all access needs or create something that works with all kind of assistive technology.

It's definetely worth doing your own manual and automatic testing. I've written a bit about manual and automatic accessibility testing before so I won't go into more detail here.

It's also important to do user research (including with people with access needs) and to get some accessibility experts to audit the finished thing.

Further reading

Services with maps

Map prototyping tools

Thanks

Cathy Dutton and the interaction design team at Defra, Angharad Stone, Joe Lanman, Simon Everest, John Waterworth, Rob Chambers, Oli Hawkins, ONS digital and Swirrl.

Updates on 7 December 2020

1. Added a link to Map Accessibility from Minnesota IT Services via Philip Kiff

2. Added a note about Shapefiles via Mike Gifford

3. Added a link to FixMyStreet from My Society and clarification that interactive maps don't always require Javascript via Matthew Somerville

4. Added a link to Defra map design standards via Cathy Dutton

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Designed to be accessible and inclusive. Defra mapping design standards - https://github.com/DEFRA/design-standards/blob/master/Maps.md

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Safari Maps - another set of maps which users will be used to

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Safari Maps - another set of maps which users will be used to

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Good facebook page with regular interesting maps from around the world 

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Good facebook page with regular interesting maps from around the world 

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(8) Simon shows you maps | Facebook

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Map to show nearest Covid-test locations at the University of Edinburgh

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Map to show nearest Covid-test locations at the University of Edinburgh

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Fast and responsive.
Keyboard-navigable.
In active development (so responsive to customer demands(-ish)).

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Static maps to show data (example from Our world in data)

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Static maps to show data (example from Our world in data)

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Our mission here at Our World in Data is to make the big global problems understandable.

To show global data it is convenient to use a map. But despite the popularity and familiarity of world maps, they can mislead our understanding of global living conditions.

Maps are made for a different purpose; they show us where the world's land masses are. They don't show us where the people are.

If we want to show where the world's people are we need a population cartogram, a geographical presentation of the world where the size of the countries are not drawn according to the distribution of land, but according to the distribution of people.

So I spent the last few weekends making this cartogram for the world population in 2018.

The cartogram is made up of squares, each of which represents half a million people of a country's population. The 11.5 million Belgians are represented by 23 squares; the 49.5 million Colombians are represented by 99 squares; the 1.415 billion people in China are represented by 2830 squares; and this year's entire world population of 7.633 billion people is represented by the total sum of 15,266 squares.

As the size of the population rather than the size of the territory is shown in this map, you can see some big differences when you compare it to the standard geographical map we're most familiar with. Small countries with a high population density increase in size in this cartogram relative to the world maps we are used to - look at Bangladesh, Taiwan, or the Netherlands. Large countries with a small population shrink in size - talking about you Canada, Mongolia, Australia, and Russia.

We should keep this cartogram in mind when we are looking at charts that show country-by-country data, because we have to remember that the number of people that these charts speak about is very different from one country to the next: An increase of the life expectancy in Denmark means that the average health of 5.8 million people is increasing, while an increase for India means that the health of 1,354 million people is improving. And a line chart that shows improvements in all African countries or across all of the American countries refers to fewer people than a chart with a single line that shows an improvement in China. The two largest countries in Asia - China or India - are the home of more people than any other entire continent.

Cartogram of the World Population in 2018¹
[click on the cartogram to enlarge it and download it in high resolution.]

The cartogram offers us many more perspectives that we can keep in mind if we want to keep an overview of the world. Here are some that stand out for me:

The area of Russia takes up 11% of the world's land, and the gigantic country borders both Norway and North Korea. But Russia is home to only less than 2% of the world population and is therefore shrunken in this cartogram to the size of Bangladesh, a country that is smaller than Florida.²

13 countries in the world are home to more than 100 million people: China (1.415 billion), India (1.354 billion), United States (326.8m), Indonesia (266.8m), Brazil (210.9m), Pakistan (200.8m), Nigeria (195.9m), Bangladesh (166.4m), Russia (144m), Mexico (130.8m), Japan (127.2m), Ethiopia (107.5m), Philippines (106.5m).

A 14th country is very close though, Egypt is expected to reach 100 million next year.

Together these 13 countries are the home of 4.75 billion people, 62% of the world population.

The cartogram below focusses on Asia and Oceania where 6 out of 10 people in the world live.

Within this world region the population is very unequally distributed. South-East Asia is densely populated while large countries such as Mongolia, Australia, Kazakhstan, and the Asian part of Russia are home to relatively few people. And again within countries we see a very high concentration. The metropolitan area of Beijing has the same population as all of Australia. Tokyo's population almost equals the population of all of Oceania.

China and India are by far the most populous countries in the world. If you want to follow what is happening to the world you have to keep track of these two countries:

More than a third of the world population - 36.2% - live in India and China.

60% of all Asians live in China or India.³

Today, both India and China have a larger population than the entire world population in 1850 (when the world population was around 1.26 billion people).

But while China and India dominate, other Asian countries are also very populous: Seven of the world's 13 countries with more than 100 million inhabitants are in Asia.

Population growth in Asia has been rapid in the last decades: The population of Asia has tripled in size since 1950.

And while some countries in Asia have already reached the last stage of the demographic transition, some others still have rapid population growth ahead. The fertility rate in India has fallen from more than 5 children per woman in the 1960s to 2.22 children in 2018, but population momentum means that population growth will continue for another 4 decades. According to the UN's population projection the population of India is expected to reach 1.65 billion in 2060, and the country is by then expected to be the most populous country in the world.

The population of the Americas is roughly one billion (1.015 billion). 428 million live in South America and 587 million are at home in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The USA - the third most populous country in the world - is by far the most populous country on the American continent. Its population is roughly as large as the population of the two runner-ups - Brazil and Mexico - combined.

Canada has a population density of just 4 people per km² - in the cartogram the second largest country in world - by area - is reduced to not much more than a slim line of squares.

The shape of the South American countries stays similar to what we would see on a geographical map. This is because the population density across the different South American countries is relatively similar.

The population of the American continents has increased very rapidly over the course of the last few generations. Historical estimates suggest that in 1820 the population was only around 35.5 million. At the time this made up just 3.4% of the world population.

Over the last two centuries the population growth rate in the Americas (28-fold) was much faster than in Europe (3-fold), Africa (14-fold), or Asia (6-fold).⁴

And some countries in the Americas had even faster population growth. The size of the US population in the 13 founding states at the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, for example, is estimated to have been only 2.5 million.⁵

1-in-6 people in the world live in Africa. The second most-populous continent is home to almost 1.3 billion people.

Two countries have a population of more than 100 million: Nigeria with 195.9 million and Ethiopia with 107.5 million.

Population density varies hugely on the African continent. The largest African country by land area is Algeria, but it is relatively sparsely populated. At the other end of the spectrum are Rwanda and Burundi. The two neighboring countries are densely populated and are both home to around 12 million people.⁶

711 million people live in Europe, less than 10% of the world population.⁷

Five European countries have a population that is larger than 50 million: The European part of Russia (110 m), Germany (82.3 m), the UK (66.6 m), France (65.2 m), and Italy (59.3 m).

Some regions of Europe are very densely populated. The Netherlands has a population density of 505 people per km² (compared, for example, to the US with 35 people per km² - see below for the map).

The population of China is almost exactly twice as large as the population of Europe.

While the population of Europe is small, the continent is economically very powerful and much richer than most other parts of the world. The per capita output and income of the Swedes for example is 30-fold higher than the per capita output and income of the Indians, and 8-times higher than the per capita output or income of the Chinese.⁸

Another way to show where the world population lives is to show the population density of each country on a geographical world map, as you see below. The world's densely populated countries in Middle America, Europe, and South East Asia stand out - Bangladesh is the most densely-populated large country in the world, with 1,252 people per square kilometer. If you hover the mouse on the bracket from 0 to 10 on the legend then you see the world's least densely populated countries.

While a geographical map is helpful if you want to find your way around the world, a population cartogram is the representation that we need if we want to know where our fellow humans are at home.

If you are interested in what is happening to the world population and you are following our work on Our World in Data, I hope these cartograms are helpful to you. If you want to print it you can get it in high resolution here.

My models

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The map we need if we want to think about how global living conditions are changing

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Our mission here at Our World in Data is to make the big global problems understandable.

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Google Maps - possibly one of the the easiest or most familiar for users?

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Google Maps - possibly one of the the easiest or most familiar for users?

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MapSearch is a free-to-use digital service for HM Land Registry Business e-services customers. With MapSearch you can:quickly establish whether land and property in England and Wales is registeredview the location of registered land and propertyobtain title numbers, details of freehold or leasehold tenure and other registered interestssave a PDF of any MapSearch result with our Snapshot feature (for reference purposes only and subject to copyright)

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MapSearch is a free-to-use digital service for HM Land Registry Business e-services customers. With MapSearch you can:quickly establish whether land and property in England and Wales is registeredview the location of registered land and propertyobtain title numbers, details of freehold or leasehold tenure and other registered interestssave a PDF of any MapSearch result with our Snapshot feature (for reference purposes only and subject to copyright)

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Maps · Issue #75 · alphagov/govuk-design-system-backlog

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What How and when to use mapping interfaces. How to make sure that information in maps is accessible. Example of "Find apprenticeship training" service Why Services that use this pattern: Flood warning GOV.UK Foreign Travel Advice Anythi...

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https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map/cases

Good example of a map interface built with styles and components from the GOV.UK Design System.

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I like the way layers are grouped into themes. Also a lot of space to write about the map.

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Skip to main content ✕ Stop the spread. Stay at home. Save lives. Get information and guidance on the coronavirus outbreak. You are here: Home What we do Environment Pollution and air quality London air quality map