Week 10 - Maps - Immigration Explorer

On the New York Times webpage, they have an “Immigration Explorer” map represents several “foreign-born groups” that resided in the United States from 1880 to 2000. What I found interesting about this map is that it is very interactive: the viewer can select a certain year by which to explore the country, as well as maneuver through each city of the state. The map includes the percentage of foreign-born population with relation to the entire population and six different types of foreign-born groups in order to compare amongst their numbers. What I appreciate most from the map is the specificity of nationalities for each foreign-born group. Say for example, one foreign group is Latin America, the map has a key that categorizes which countries from Latin America (Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, Canada, Dominican Republic, etc.). I was most impressed by the information in years, while also enjoying the aesthetics of color for the map. Again, the interactive characteristic really makes the map powerful enough to make it realistic – while also providing the viewer with a chance to navigate in different spaces and their pace.

"Immigration Explorer": http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html