Thursday, January 26, 2017

Immigration Maps in the News



Maps in the News: Mapping United States Immigration

The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides research assistance for students writing papers and presentations.  Staff in the GRMC conduct instructional sessions for professors to introduce students to using cartographic resources as a primary source.  Students (and other researchers) can learn about the vast world of maps, atlases, and other cartographic resources.

Many Web pages feature unique maps that portray geographic trends and depict current world issues in a truly visual format.  One site used by the GRMC for research projects is Metrocosm.  Metrocosm is a collection of maps created by Max Galka, an entrepreneur and computer engineer.  These unique maps provide dynamic depictions of numerous topics.  The latest maps on the site describe the flow of international trade, show election results in 3-D, map the waste management of New York City, and show traffic patterns across the United States.

One of the maps used by the GRMC in recent current events presentations is “Here’s Everyone Who’s Immigrated to the U.S. Since 1820: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration.”  According to the site, 79 million people obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States from 1820 to 2013, and the map shows their migration patterns.  On the map, each dot represents 10,000 people. A timeline at the bottom of the map shows which countries had the most people migrating to the U.S, so users can track events that influenced migration--like the Irish Potato Famine (above, click to enlarge).  The top three countries for each decade and the total number of people migrating are listed in the corner.

Another popular map is “All the World’s Immigration Visualized in One Map.”  This map shows the inflows and outflows of immigration by origin and destination country between 2010 and 2015.


For more information about using maps as a visual aid in research and learning, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

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