Population

Where Do Humans Live? A New Map Offers More Detail Than Ever Before.

By Emerging Technology from the arXiv

One of the important goals of geography is to assess the human presence and its impact across the planet. A good starting point is to understand where humans live.

That’s easier said than done. The global population is around 7 billion, with about half living in cities. Many companies have mapped modern cities and smaller settlements with enthusiasm. Companies such as Google and Microsoft, and even the open-source organization OpenStreetMaps, have comprehensive maps of many areas of the world.

But this work tends to focus on the developed world, where potential profits are greatest, and on urban areas where the concentration of people is highest. What’s more, commercial maps vary in resolution and are based on commercial imagery that is hugely expensive to access.