Choropleth map
Overview
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
χώρος + πληθαίν:, ("area/region" + "multiply") is a thematic map
Thematic map
A thematic map is a type of map or chart especially designed to show a particular theme connected with a specific geographic area. These maps "can portray physical, social, political, cultural, economic, sociological, agricultural, or any other aspects of a city, state, region,nation , or...
in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed on the map, such as population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
or per-capita income.
The choropleth map provides an easy way to visualize how a measurement varies across a geographic area or it shows the level of variability within a region.
A special type of choropleth map is a prism map, a three-dimensional map in which a given region's height on the map is proportional to the statistical variable's value for that region.
The earliest known choropleth map was created in 1826 by Baron Pierre Charles Dupin
Charles Dupin
Pierre Charles François Dupin was a French Catholic mathematician.He studied geometry with Monge at the École Polytechnique and then became a naval engineer. In 1819 he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers; he kept this post until 1854...
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