Maps
The Average Terrain Colors of Countries Around the World
When you think about countries with an abundance of desert like Egypt, you generally think of yellow and orange sand colors. Likewise, countries with rainforests like Brazil most likely generate thoughts of deep greens. What color are the rest of the countries in the world?
Data visualization artist Erin Davis used satellite imagery from Sentinel-2 to illustrate the average color of the terrain in countries around the world.
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The graphics use a choropleth map visualization to show the average color of the terrain in each country. Some countries, like snow-covered Greenland and Antarctica, are clearly colored how one would expect. Others take on a darker or more jewel-toned hue that reflects their unique landscapes.
The artist also illustrated the average color of each county in the United States for a more granular view of the country. The visualization highlights the forest-rich regions of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and South East as well as well as the rugged physical geography of southwestern states like Arizona and New Mexico.
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There are five major classes of land biomes in the world: forests, deserts, savannah, tundra, and grasslands. The nature of these biomes heavily impact the color of the areas picked up by satellite. These are the divisions of each biome around the world:
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- Forests (40.1%): Forest biomes are populated by various species of deciduous and evergreen trees. This type of biome also includes rainforests, one of the most important forests in the world.
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- Deserts (25.9%): Deserts are categorized as areas with very little rainfall. Daytime temperatures are typically high and nighttime temperatures are low.
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- Savannah (16.7%): Savannah is tropical grasslands that are somewhere between lush tropical rainforests and desert regions. Their rainfalls typically occur during summer months, which means it evaporates quickly. These areas are prone to drought.
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- Tundra (10.5%): The climate of the tundra is extreme cold. Temperatures in the winter often go below freezing and plant life is either nonexistent or dormant for much of the year.
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- Grasslands (6.8%): Grasslands (also known as the Prairies in North America and the Pampas in South America) are temperate regions with warm summers and cool winters.
There are more remote workers in the U.S. than ever before. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic, a new way of work has swept the nation with workers and businesses opting to work remotely. While shared work and office spaces are popular, many people choose to work from the comfort of their homes. A new map created by Qualtrics shows us the most popular American cities for remote work and the least popular.
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These cities had the highest percentage of remote workforces:
- Cary, NC remote workforce – 41.4%
- Frisco, TX remote workforce – 39.7%
- Bellevue, WA remote workforce – 38.6%
- Berkeley, CA remote workforce – 36.4%
- Seattle, WA remote workforce – 36%
- Arlington, VA remote workforce – 35.8%
- Fremont, CA remote workforce – 35.2%
- Scottsdale, AZ remote workforce – 34%
- Carlsbad, CA remote workforce – 33.8%
- Washington, DC remote workforce – 33.8%
At the other end of the spectrum, these cities had the fewest remote workers:
- Beaumont, Texas 3.7% remote workforce
- Odessa, Texas 3.8%
- El Monte, California 4.0%
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama 4.1%
- Paterson, New Jersey 4.6%
- Corpus Christi, Texas 4.7%
- Salinas, California 5.0%
- Midland, Texas 5.5%
- San Bernardino, California 5.5%
- Visalia, California 5.5%
Many people say they prefer remote work because of the money and time working from home saves. It makes sense that cities with a good cost of living and other attractive aspects would be home to more remote workers than expensive or unpleasant cities. Looking at this map gives us a good look at which cities people would choose to live in when they could truly choose to live anywhere!
The U.S. divorce rate is fairly high, leading many people to ask what factors play into the rates. From economics to religion, there are many factors that can impact whether a marriage ends in happily ever after or a parting of ways. The team at Joslyn Law Firm gives us insight into one specific aspect: location. They calculated the highest and lowest divorce rates in cities across the U.S. and plotted them out on this map.
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The map is both easy to read and informative. The high divorce rate locations are highlighted in yellow and the low divorce rate cities are blue. Taking a look at these pinpoints all over the U.S. we see a variety of cities across the U.S. featured. The team listed the top 25 cities for both statistics.
These were the top ten results for cities with the highest divorce rates:
- Medford, OR
- Fort Smith, AR-OK
- Dothan, AL
- Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
- Charleston, WV
- Bangor, ME
- Pueblo, CO
- Texarkana, TX-AR
- Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
- Jackson, MI
Medford is a small city in Oregon with an average population that’s a little on the older end. Conventional wisdom suggests this could lead to higher divorce rates because the younger generations are getting married later in life and are trending toward longer marriages, whereas “gray divorce” (divorce over age 65) is becoming more common. As for low divorce rates, the city of Provo-Orem, Utah may top the list because of the high Mormon population, a religion that forbids divorce.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is tasked with ending drug trafficking in the United States. They’ve had a lot of success by undergoing a crucial operation: raiding drug labs. Drug labs are the source of a huge chunk of illegal drugs in the U.S. They’re used to create dangerous substances like methamphetamines. The key to stopping the illegal drug trade is to stop drug production at the source. The team at Joslyn Law Firm shows us the centers of these raids by mapping out the U.S. cities with the most raids in over a ten-year span. With this map we can see changing trends in drug trafficking.
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The team presents us with one map and a few graphs. On the map we see the cities with the highest average number of raids between 2014 and 2023. Below, graphs show these cities raids on a yearly basis in this time span, as well as a graph comparing each state’s numbers.
Michigan has the highest number of drug raids. There are some unique aspects to this state that make it a hot spot. The state has a border with Canada that cuts through the Great Lakes. This watery border gives drug traffickers and easier way to move illegal goods in and out of the country. Michigan also has high unemployment rates and fewer economic opportunities, which leads more people to turn to drug use and sales. Michigan also produces many of the chemicals used in synthetic drugs, so drug labs have an easier time getting a hold of supplies. Learn more with the team’s extensive information and data.
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