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Concept
Choropleth map
Summary
A choropleth map () is a type of statistical thematic map that uses pseudocolor, meaning color corresponding with an aggregate summary of a geographic characteristic within spatial enumeration units, such as population density or per-capita income.
Choropleth maps provide an easy way to visualize how a variable varies across a geographic area or show the level of variability within a region. A heat map or isarithmic map is similar but uses regions drawn according to the pattern of the variable, rather than the a priori geographic areas of choropleth maps. The choropleth is likely the most common type of thematic map because published statistical data (from government or other sources) is generally aggregated into well-known geographic units, such as countries, states, provinces, and counties, and thus they are relatively easy to create using GIS, spreadsheets, or other software tools.
The earliest known choropleth map was created in 1826 by Baron Pierre Charles Dupin, depicting the availability of basic education in France by department. More "cartes teintées" ("tinted maps") were soon produced in France to visualize other "moral statistics" on education, disease, crime, and living conditions. Choropleth maps quickly gained popularity in several countries due to the increasing availability of demographic data compiled from national Censuses, starting with a series of choropleth maps published in the official reports of the 1841 Census of Ireland. When Chromolithography became widely available after 1850, color was increasingly added to choropleth maps.
The term "choropleth map" was introduced in 1938 by the geographer John Kirtland Wright, and was in common usage among cartographers by the 1940s. Also in 1938, Glenn Trewartha reintroduced them as "ratio maps", but this term did not survive.
A choropleth map brings together two datasets: spatial data representing a partition of geographic space into distinct districts, and statistical data representing a variable aggregated within each district.
Official source
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