For those who are wondering, this map is an example of a cartogram which is a thematic map that shows information. In this case, the circles are all proportionately sized by absolute scaling to match each country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Each of the countries’ are coloured based on their continent to make it easier for the map reader. Do any of the sizes surprise you?
A second variable that I mapped is the number of Michelin Stars that each country has. Michelin Stars is an awarding system for restaurants that was started in Europe in 1900 as a way to get car owners to drive more. Rating restaurants was a way to entice drivers to go to different locations and use their vehicles more. Individual restaurants can obtain up to three stars. On my map, the stars are shown by the different colour intensities. The more opaque the colour, the more stars that country has. On the opposite end of the spectrum, circles that are left hollow are countries with no stars.
Click here for the data of countries’ GDP per capita as provided by the World Bank.
Click here for the Michelin Star rating data.