Dictionary

choropleth map en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈkɔːɹəˌplɛθ/ (UK)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek χώρα (khṓra, “location”) + πλῆθος (plêthos, “a great number”) + English map. First proposed in 1938 by American geographer John Kirtland Wright to mean "quantity in area," although maps of the type have been used since the early 19th century.

Meanings

1. A thematic map in which the distribution of some property is shown using different colours.
   • The scale and unit of analysis for choropleth maps depends upon the area to be mapped. 1999, Jeffery T. Walker, Statistics in Criminal Justice: Analysis and Interpretation, page 66:
   • As the Mercator is to Web projections, choropleth maps are to thematic cartography (i.e., they are overused). 2013, Ian Muehlenhaus, Web Cartography: Map Design for Interactive and Mobile Devices, page 147:
   • The choropleth map, which shows distributions by area, is one of the most frequently used maps in geography. 2004, Gerald R. Pitzl, Encyclopedia of Human Geography, page 29:

Forms

Relateds

isarithmic · area-class

Synonyms

chloropleth map · chloropleth · choropleth

wikipedia: John Kirtland Wright · wikipedia: American Geographical Society · wikipedia: Population Association of America