Geographia: map

Showing posts with label map. Show all posts

Friday, February 15, 2013

Mapping Damascus Over Time

The city of Damascus has always intrigued me. Maybe because it is the oldest established metropolis in the Levant region and the most continuously inhabited city in the world, or maybe it is because it is in the heart of the Middle East. Regardless of the reason behind this intriguing city, it is interesting to see how the city developed over time from a spatial perspective. I have compiled a list of eight maps to show how the city developed since the Romans occupied the Levant region of the Middle East. The first in the series of maps shows the various empires throughout history that helped shaped the city into its early 20th century boundaries. Then each of the following maps progressively show how Damascus grew over time. Now with the civil war destroying this city, it would be interesting to see how the city will be altered again.

Map 1: Urban Evolution of the City of Damascus - Roman Era until the 1960's

Map 2: French cartographic map of Damascus in 1929

Map 3: Cultural Map of the city of Damascus in 1936

Map 4: Growth of Damascus from 1936 to 1994

Map 5: Population Growth of Damascus, 1981 to 2000

Map 6: The City of Damascus in 2004

Map 7: The inner-city of Damascus, Present Day

Map 8: Present day satellite imagery of Damascus

Map Sources:

Map 1: Al-Qattan, N. (2002) Litigants and Neighbours: The Communal Topography of
Ottoman Damascus Comparative Studies in Society and History Vol 44 No 3, p 511-533.
Map 2: Bureau Topographique des Troupes Francaises du Levant (1929) Damas available from
http://historiccities.huji.ac.il/syria/damascus/maps/tfl_1929_damascus.html
Map 3: a) Map - Al-Qattan, N. (2002) Litigants and Neighbours: The Communal Topography of
Ottoman Damascus Comparative Studies in Society and History Vol 44 No 3, p 511-533.
b) Religion overlay - Khoury, P.S. (1984) Syrian Urban Politics in Transition: The Quarters of
Damascus during the French Mandate International Journal of Middle East
Studies Vol 16 No 4 p 507-540 (1984).
Map 4: El-Ibrahim, K. (2001) Spontaneous Settlements around the City of Damascus
Damascus: University of Damascus, p 80Map 5: El-Ibrahim, K. (2001) Spontaneous Settlements around the City of Damascus
Damascus: University of Damascus, p. 71
Map 6: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Districts_of_damascus.gif
Map 7: http://www.studio-basel.com/assets/files/files/21_urban_development_of_damascus_web.pdf
Map 8: Astrium Geo. 2012. http://www.imagekind.com/Damascus-Syria--Satellite-Image-art?
IMID=5cd73cc1-6559-42a0-a1c0-b1d745c9d45f

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Online GIS information on Map Analysis

I came across the following site that has a wealth of free information on Geographic Information Systems'(GIS)-related information by Berry & Associates // Spatial Information Systems (BASIS). Map Analysis is a great subject for anyone interested in analyzing maps especially through GIS. A link to the material is http://www.innovativegis.com/basis/

There are presentation slides in the "Online Books and Materials: Map Analysis Workshop Materials" by Joseph K. Berry that go over various topics in the workshops presented such as Introduction and Data Considerations, Spatial Analysis Techniques and Considerations, Spatial Statistics Techniques and Considerations, GIS Modeling Approaches and Considerations , among others.

There is also a free online book which can be downloaded that covers a wealth of topics such as Spatial Interpolation Procedures and Assessment, Where Is GIS Education?, Analyzing Accumulation Surfaces, Linking Data Space and Geographic Space, Analyzing Landscape Patterns, Applying Surface Analysis,  Human Dimensions of GIS, Overview of Spatial Analysis and Statistics, Spatial Data Mining in Geo-business and much more.

A link to the book can be found here: http://www.innovativegis.com/basis/mapanalysis/

Happy Reading!

Friday, March 9, 2012

A Geographic History of Islamic States through Maps

Maps can tell a great story without words, especially by showing a temporal depiction of the change of cultures and boundaries. Throughout history though, various empires conquered many lands across most of Asia and left behind many cultural influences that have molded today's ethnic groups and languages in the region.

There are three main language families in this region depicted in the below map: Semitic (Yellow), Indo-Iranian (Orange), and Turkic (Green).

Semitic language roots trace back to the days of the Sumerians and Akkadians estimated around 2400 BC. These languages have evolved over time into the most commonly known languages of Arabic (commonly used in all Arab States), Hebrew (commonly used in Israel), Amharic (commonly used in Ethiopia), and Tigrinya (commonly used in Eritrea).

Indo-Iranian language roots trace back to 6th century BC. Indo-Iranian is most commonly known today as the Persian language family consisting of mainly Kurdish, Farsi, Pashto, Tajik, and Dari. Other Indo-Iranian languages are located in Pakistan and India.

Turkic language roots trace back to the early Middle Ages (around 8th century AD). Before the Turkic expansion occurred, most Turks were located in the Area known as Mongolia today. In the years following the early Middle Ages, the Turks expanded in all parts of Asia from Siberia to India to Turkey covering a vast land mass and influencing many cultures along the way. Today, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and the languages of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia make up what is part of the Turkic family.

The following maps are courtesy of the Gulf/2000 Project funded by Columbia University:

Linguistic Composition of Southwest Asian States: Present Day

The following group of maps reveals historic changes as a result of the various conquerors, empires, and cultures from 1450 to 2000 AD. Throughout the years, the only long standing empires have been the Ottoman/Turkey and Persia/Iran.