In the last post we started using MapMaker Interactive– a free mapping tool on the National Geographic Education website– to explore just two of its thematic layers: Lights at Night and Population Density. As promised, this post will take you to deeper into the data to show how MapMaker can reveal patterns, anomalies, and–I would argue–stories about the planet and the people on it. 

Now, scroll over to East Asia. First, look at the Lights at Night layer and quiz yourself: What is that isolated bright dot in southwestern China? If you guessed it is the lights of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, you’re correct. The city has been heavily developed by the Chinese government in recent years. For more, see these articles on the Tibetan railway by the BBC and China’s Xinhua (disclaimer: Xinhua is a government-run news source).