Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before

A vivid new way to highlight the global distribution of wealth, health and income is unveiled in maps that have been distorted to highlight inequalities.

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.

On the maps of public health spending, research expenditure and wealth, Africa appears tiny. But in those that show global malaria cases and the deaths due to drought, Africa appears enormous.

Those maps revealing insect infestation and the elderly show how China is ballooning in dominance.

As for illiterate young women, India dominates the world.

Worldmapper shows what are called equal area cartograms, where territories are redrawn according to a particular variable.

The sea is always the same proportion of the map. The colour and shade for each territory is the same on every map. As far as possible, the territory shape and relative positions are also preserved. The process of creating an equal area cartogram has occupied researchers for decades.