Maps

Non-contiguous cartogram

Scales regions by value while allowing gaps and preserving more of their shapes.

Map
Geography
Magnitude

What it answers

How do resized regional quantities compare while retaining shape?

Shape: Resized separated regions
What it shows: Regional total differences.

Example

The question

How big is each region when sized by revenue?

Regions shrunk in place by revenue (non-contiguous cartogram)

Each region is shrunk around its own centre so its area matches its revenue; faint outlines show true size. Gaps between shapes are part of the method.

Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.

When to use it

Use it when

Magnitude maps where preserving local shapes helps recognition.

Avoid it when

When adjacency or exact positions are essential.

How to read it

Read each separated region's scaled area and label.

Note

Adjacency is not preserved.

The data you need

Layout: Attribute table plus geographic boundaries
Fields: RegionID: text; Value: number; matching polygon geometry or geographic boundary source
One row is: One region and its measured value. What is the grain?
Rules: Join data to boundaries with stable IDs. Declare geographic level, boundary version and coordinate reference system.
Optional: Names alone may be ambiguous. Geometry can be GeoJSON, a spatial file or a tool-supported boundary lookup.
Preparation: Join values to regions and scale shapes while allowing gaps; retain original identifiers.
Units: State the mapped attribute unit, geographic level and boundary/coordinate reference. Rates need an explicit population or area denominator.

An attribute table joined to map shapes by a shared region code.

Worked example

ValuesA60, B40 scale displayed areas 3:2 with gaps allowed. The gaps do not represent missing regions.

RegionID	Value
R1	30
R2	45

All charts in the library