Mapping Hacks

Another one from the “old data made new” file: Bjørn Sandvik of thematicmapping.org has been good enough to make some improvements to our freely available world borders shapefile. (He’s also doing some kick-ass choropleth maps in OpenLayers.) The new and improved world borders shapefile is hosted on his website; we have mirrored it in our data directory.

Here are Bjørn’s improvements…

• Polygons representing one country/area are merged into one feature.
• Added ISO 3611-1 Country codes (alpha-2, alpha-3, numeric-3).
• Various feature changes to make the dataset more compatible with ISO 3611-1.
• Added region and sub-region codes from UN Statistical Division.
• Added longitude/latitude values for each country.

Additionally, the new data set contains the following corrected features:

• Åland Islands: Extracted from Finland
• Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernsey are represented as two separate features.
• Hong Kong: Extracted Hong Kong from China
• Holy See/Vatican: Added feature
• Montenegro: Extracted from Serbia
• Occupied Palestinian Territory: Merged Gaza Strip and West Bank
• Saint-Barthelemy: Extracted from Netherlands Antilles
• Saint-Martin (French part): Extracted from Guadeloupe
• Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands: Merged Svalbard and Jan Mayen
• Timor-Leste: Extracted from Indonesia
• Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands (UN-code: 581)
• Baker Island
• Howland Island
• Jarvis Island
• Johnston Atoll
• Midway Islands
• Wake Island

The new dataset does not, in case you are curious, separate Kosovo from Serbia. As Mr. Sandvik writes, “Use this dataset with care, as several of the borders are disputed.” Indeed.

Posted in geodata, data |

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