If you're wondering how "close" two places are, a geographic map doesn't help much anymore. If the airports are good--or if there's a bullet train nearby--hundreds of miles might as well be down the street. Point being, "distance" is now really a function less of geography, than of the transport networks we've invented.
Which is why researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, and the World Bank, created this gorgeous map. They first created a model, which calculated how long it would take to travel from a given point, to the nearest city of 50,000 people or more; the model includes rail, road, and river networks.
Then they plotted these results on a color coded map: The brighter an area, the closer it is to a big city; the darker it is, the further out it is. (The blue lines above represent oceanic shipping lanes.)
As the New Scientist reports:
Plotted onto a map, the results throw up surprises. First, less than 10% of the world's land is more than 48 hours of ground-based travel from the nearest city. What's more, many areas considered remote and inaccessible are not as far from civilization as you might think. In the Amazon, for example, extensive river networks and an increasing number of roads mean that only 20% of the land is more than two days from a city--around the same proportion as Canada's Quebec province.
The most remote place: Tibet, parts of which are as much as three weeks away from a city--with the journey comprising 20 days on foot.
Check out the New Scientist's entire gallery of 11 different maps.
Related Stories: | Topics:Design, info graphic, data visualization, dataviz, infographic, geography, Innovation, Technology, New Scientist Magazine, Joint Research Centre, Italy, The World Bank Group, European Commission |
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Recent Comments | 19 Total
October 24, 2009 at 12:53am by Aly-Khan Satchu
The c21st is a World the most interconnected and up close and personal we have ever witnessed. The Mobile, The Internet and its UBER Ecosystems like Google, Twitter and Facebook have knitted us all together in an extraordinary fashion. We have moved from Aerogrammes [Remember them] to a Stream of universal Conciousness. From a Sociology perspective, it has been a relatively recent Phenomenon and a very Democratic One.
Aly-Khan Satchu
www.rich.co.ke
Twitter alykhansatchu
October 25, 2009 at 3:36pm by Marc Tytus
Has anyone found a really high res version of the map? I would love to be able to purchase it as a wall map!
October 26, 2009 at 1:39am by Ed Carve
Marc, I was thinking the same. I bet there is one available since the zoom shot of india/tibet looks pretty good
October 26, 2009 at 8:39am by D Beta
A train between Tibet and Beijing exists since more or less 1 year, 48 hours to arrive. Did you consider it?
October 26, 2009 at 4:39pm by Pete Smith
good to know we can still get away from it all... bet there is no H1N1 no berattas , a little more peace
October 26, 2009 at 4:39pm by Pete Smith
good to know we can still get away from it all... bet there is no H1N1 no berattas , a little more peace
October 26, 2009 at 4:40pm by Pete Smith
good to know we can still get away from it all... bet there is no H1N1 no berattas , a little more peace
October 26, 2009 at 4:53pm by Marvin James
This is not as remote as the location of the missing socks I've lost in the washing machine. I'd like to see that on the map.
October 26, 2009 at 5:44pm by Gary Beesley
Basically, I've found that the place which is most remote and distant from all things that matter is...Washington DC.
October 26, 2009 at 6:02pm by Brian C
This research project doesn't seem to account for local air travel. It is likely easy to land a plane on the Tibetan plateau, while landing one in the Amazon would be more difficult.
October 26, 2009 at 6:18pm by Sarah Ali
Who would have thought that Tibet is the most remote place in the world and the Amazon river networks accessibility is the same as Quebec! Technology really does a lot in changing our perceptions!
October 26, 2009 at 6:29pm by Sarah Ali
Who would have thought that Tibet is the most remote place in the world and the Amazon river networks accessibility is the same as Quebec! Technology really does a lot in changing our perceptions!
October 26, 2009 at 6:37pm by PAUL ELF
I find it funny how we spend money on research of the importance of travelling by foot. I dont find this to be all that interesting. Really, we had to color a map and express how long it would take to travel by foot to a city with 50k people in it. How about this, lets do the research on how long it would take me to travel by foot from Glendale Az, to Chandler Az, now thats a hike!! I live in Phoenix and if you want to know how much it sucks to live in a city of 2million and still get from a western city to a eastern city as described above now were talking these cities are spread out!! ASS clowns....
October 26, 2009 at 8:05pm by Rafael Torres
I'm still trying to figure out the point of this expensive research venture. So we now know the most isolated places; now what? If they are doing this for expanding infrastructure I think they should steer away from that. If they set up an airport or shopping in mall in Tibet, that wouldn't be a great idea. What a waste of money! It's interesting but it really serves no purpose. Purely trivial.
October 26, 2009 at 8:37pm by scooter_pie patchwork
Watch out! If you are walking around Tibet for 20 days, a snow leopard may get you! They are very pretty - but also very HUNGRY!
October 26, 2009 at 9:51pm by Vince Hollis
Noway. It's got to be Greenland, or Antarctica. Just look how big and dark Greenland is.
October 28, 2009 at 2:13pm by James Montgomery
Presumably yes, the poles would be the truest most "remote" places on Earth. But re: Greenland, Reykjavik Iceland is only ~900miles away. And shipping can probably get you to a 50k-populated city in NE Canada or EU in well under three weeks (you can cross the entire Atlantic in less than one week).
November 3, 2009 at 4:02pm by aleli ginger
This is a very interesting study made. Still and all, it is an academic discussion. I mean, Tibet is Tibet- if you get my drift.
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December 28, 2009 at 12:45pm by Chris Reich
Technology causes thought evolution. Vast separations are less thought of in distance than of time. How far am I from the Oregon border? Less than an hour's drive. Driving to Sacramento from my office takes nearly 6 hours. Flying from Sacramento to Dulles takes only 5 hours. So distance becomes relative to mode of travel.
We might consider how many other aspects of our lives warp relative to technology. Medical care? Before antibiotics, a broken leg was a near certain death sentence. Now a broken leg translates into what near term activity will be missed. Damn, there goes ski season. I'll miss the big game. I'll be attending John's wedding wearing a cast. Not a thought is given to the chances of survival.
I am looking at the numerous aspects of life, especially business life, which are relative to technology advancements or economic deconstructions. The rain forest is harvested which brings revenue to 'primitive' tribes. Harvesting the rain forest becomes a bad thing and stops as does the income to those same tribes who must move deeper to the jungle or take up farming. Their way of of life deconstructed by technology.
Chris Reich
www.BizPhyZ.com