Information about countries and regions
Official Statistics publications often contain comparisons of the characteristics of different countries or regions within a single country. Such comparisons can be made with tables and bar charts, as described in earlier sections of this chapter. However it is often clearer to present the information in a map. The various areas on the map can be coloured or shaded according to the values of interest.
African information
The diagram below shows some data about African countries.
European | European power in control of the country in 1945 |
---|---|
Calories | Calories per capita per day in 1998 |
Life expectancy | Male life expectancy in 2003 |
AIDS/HIV | Percentage of adults (15-49) with AIDS/HIV in 2003 |
The first of these measurements is categorical (since it collects the countries into one of five groups). The other measurements are continuous numerical ones. The African map has been coloured to represent the values of the variables.
Use the pop-up menu to select the measurement to display on the map and investigate its distribution through Africa.
Click on a row of the data table or a country on the map to highlight it in both parts of the diagram.
Note that the accuracy of these data are questionable. For example, the AIDS rates are likely to be under-reported in some countries and some values are unknown (shaded in grey on the map).
Population density
The information that is displayed on a map is usually only available within fairly large regions (e.g. countries), but occasionally information is available on a much smaller scale. The map below describes population density in Asia and is based on a very fine grid of areas — population density is known or has been estimated within very small areas.