Wikipedia:Graphics Lab/Map workshop/Archive/Aug 2023

Zambesia

{{Resolved}}

Map of Zambesia

Article(s)

Zambesia

Request

I’ve been researching the movement for Zambesia and thought it’d be nice to have a “standard” Wikipedia map to go along with a future article I plan to make. See the Cape Republic page for the kind of format I’m going for. Thanks for any and all assistance!

-- Pruehito (talk) 16:17, 10 August 2023 (UTC)

Discussion

@Pruehito hi, do you have a reliable source for the map? The one of the right doesn't have any sources. – Isochrone (T) 12:30, 11 August 2023 (UTC)

@Isochrone https://unpo.org/article/22010 Pruehito (talk) 19:56, 11 August 2023 (UTC)

@Pruehito please see File:Zambesia location map.svg. I'm happy to implement changes as appropriate. – Isochrone (T) 14:37, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Historical conflict map in southern Ukraine

Article(s)

Battle of Dibrivka

Request

Hello! As part of a GA review, it's been requested that I get a historical conflict map for the Battle of Dibrivka and its aftermath, which took place in southern Ukraine in late 1918. The battle itself was centred on the village of Velykomykhailivka and surrounding Dibrivka forest. The aftermath involved movement through a number of towns in the former Oleksandrivsky uezd of the former Katerynoslav province, including Velykomykhailivka, as well as Harylivka, Ivanivka, Tsarekostyantynivka, Temyrivka and Huliaipole. In the modern day, these towns are found in the Polohy Raion in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and the Synelnykove Raion in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. If anybody could help put together such maps, I would appreciate it immensely. -- Grnrchst (talk) 14:42, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

Discussion

Creation of world map

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  Base image
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  Use

Not the first time I show up with this project here, once again I need some assistance. We all know our SVG blank world map which is used, with some alterations, for choropleth maps. What I am now working are historical world maps, i. e. I track changes in the world map from today back to the past. Current state is 1992, and now I would like to have a first historical SVG blank world map. The data exists as a shapefile within a QGIS project, but I am to much a beginner to be able to export the data on my own in sound way. Is there anyone here who could assist me by that, creating something like a template that enables me to continue on my own?--Antemister (talk) 08:30, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

@Antemister: Where is the data? M.Bitton (talk) 10:35, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

Have uploaded it now at [1], the project file consists of two relevant layers, Layer ISO is an ISO 3166 world map as of 2023, based on geoboundaries with some minor alterations, ISO_borderchanges contains all international boundary changes between 1992 and 2022, organized via the temporal controller function. data — MITC_disputed_regions_v2 and Testplatte are working layers, Layer B and C include disputed boundaries and countries, they are not relevant at the moment.--Antemister (talk) 11:04, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

Addition: You might know Historicalmapchart, which already has a similar function but with a lower accuracy of research. Its base map is at [2], ideally the SVG gets the same structure, so it could be included into that already existing web application.--Antemister (talk) 11:17, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

I'm not exactly sure I understand what you're after. Is it a 1992 world map (i.e., the 2023 map with the "ISO_borderchanges" included)? What web application are you referring to? How is the structure used on Historicalmapchart different from the one used on our SVG blank world map and why does it have to follow that particular structure instead of the one that we are familiar with? Also, it's not clear how the borders of some of the countries that are included in "ISO_borderchanges" have changed (eg. Australia, Namibia, South Africa, etc.). M.Bitton (talk) 15:34, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

As usual, my explanations arised more questions than it answered, so more in detail step by step:
1) The shapefiles I sent you actually include a political world map for any time between 2023 and 1992. You have to activate Layer ISO and then place ISO_borderchanges on top. The latter includes a polygon for every country whose borders differed between 1992 and 2023 from the today's borders. So, e. g. for Yemen the shape between the 1992 border agreement with Oman and the 2000 border treaty with Saudi Arabia (indicated by the date in the attribute table), the post-2000 border is then current border and thus not part of the ISO_borderchanges layer. By applying the temporal controller you can use the slider to display a world map for any time between (yes, it it works only limited now because I have not added a dummy date if the shape existed before 1992, but it should be sufficient to understand the principle)
2) Look at [3], i have been in contact with the site maintainer there, and he could add my map as long I provide him an SVG that works with his application.
3) Have a look at source code of linked SVG file, instead of having 70 different maps for each year, there is only one SVG which has a similar structure as my QGIS project. It includes all the different country shapes plus a time range, e. g. "GDR 1949 1989". If you place the slider at, say, 1955, the software takes all shapes whose time range include that year and drop the others. So you have a world map of 1955 (the idea of structuring the QGIS file was of course I derived from this)
4) My research goes far more into detail as it would be necessary if the only aim were such choropleth maps, tracing also minor border changes. Australia incorporate Norfolk Island in 2015, and for South Africa/Namibia it is the transfer of Walvis Bay in 1994, that why these countries are included. So, ideal solution would be the extraction of an SVG map that has a Wikipedia-style look and a Historicalmapchart-style source code, than I would provide it to Mapchart, he implements it into his application, we take out a map for each year to upload it at Commons for documentary purposes, and for general use Historicalmapchart is applied.
Has my plan become more clear?--Antemister (talk) 21:59, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

Basically, you want to create a map for Historicalmapchart. Is that correct? M.Bitton (talk) 09:44, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

Oh, no, did it make the that impression? The story behind it is long, I started with the research a decade ago, together with a graphist that later lost interest in the topic. About a dozen of maps were made, see commons:Category:SVG historic world maps (location map scheme), but then the project fell asleep. It had been two quarantines that reactivated it, so I continued research and decided to extend the scope, from an SVG-only world map to GIS model of geopolitical changes in the 20th century. But still the "base maps for choropleth maps in wikipedia" is the central purpose, in combination with a tool to colorize the countries without text editing or Inkscape.

Actually such a tool exists, a poorly programmed desktop application that was part of a training project some years ago (I am not a programmer). But since then the situation has changed, I don't believe that such a desktop tool is state of the art anymore when Mapchart exists as a sophisticated web application with a compatible licence. Yes, there might be different views on that is my suggestion to get that up und running.

Does that explanation make my approach more logical?--Antemister (talk) 11:29, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

Yes and the above explanation doesn't change the impression as it simply tells me that you want to create a map that runs on their platform. M.Bitton (talk) 11:36, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

Indeed, the aim is a map that (also) works with that platform, but is that a problem or drawback--Antemister (talk) 13:14, 5 August 2023 (UTC)