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  • Mapping the internet

    Posted on July 9th, 2012 nrapp 46 comments

    Click to see internet map of the world

    If the internet is a global phenomenon, it’s because there are fiber-optic cables underneath the ocean. Light goes in on one shore and comes out the other, making these tubes the fundamental conduit of information throughout the global village. To make the light travel enormous distances, thousands of volts of electricity are sent through the cable’s copper sleeve to power repeaters, each the size and roughly the shape of a 600-pound bluefin tuna.Once a cable reaches a coast, it enters a building known as a “landing station” that receives and transmits the flashes of light sent across the water. The fiber-optic lines then connect to key hubs, known as “Internet exchange points,” which, for the most part, follow geography and population.

    Click to enlarge

    The majority of transatlantic undersea cables land in downtown Manhattan where the result has been the creation of a parallel Wall Street geography, based not on the location of bustling trading floors but on proximity to the darkened buildings that house today’s automated trading platforms. The surrounding space is at a premium, as companies strive to literally shorten the wire that connects them to the hubs.

    In the latest issue of Fortune Magazine, with Andrew Blum’s text. Many thanks to Dave Drazen from GeoTel LLC for providing the data sets.

    Click to enlarge

     

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14 responses to “Mapping the internet” RSS icon

  • Is there a reason why you chose the counter-intuitive legend for the percentage that use the Internet on the world map? Shouldn’t the greater percentage be darker?

  • This map is very interesting. I do agree with GoGators’ comment about colour choice to an extent, though it could be argued being online brings one ‘into the light’; so perhaps it’s just a perception thing? One thing I will say is that, as an Australian, the chosen map projection is quite ugly, though I get that the choice was made – presumably – to put the focus where most of the connectivity is to be found, ie, the northern hemisphere. Again, I think I know why it has been done (the existence or a connection rather that differentiating them), but I find the use of a single clour line just leads to a bit of a tangle. The connections leading from the east coast of Australia, for example, cannot be traced or differentiated, and this is common around the map. Having said all that, I do find it interesting and more detailed than other representations I have seen, so well done and thanks!

  • Martin von Wyss July 12th, 2012 at 07:18

    Using light, or lightness, to reflect knowledge makes perfect sense to me. And the map projection beautifully suits the topic and content. Well done!

  • I was surprised that Nigeria and Egypt had lower internet use rates than the rest of Africa, and was thinking of the many counter-intuitive explanations for why this would be so (money + industry = no broadband?) when I realised I was misreading the legend.

  • Marvin Drakes July 14th, 2012 at 07:11

    Is the data set for the cables available anywhere?

  • I dont think this is accurate The emergias undersea cables landing in Las Toninas (Argentina) is missing and therefore southamericas ring also…

  • @Africanista

    You’re reading it the other way round, it’s the rest of the continent which trails Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Notable absence for South Africa and Botswana – the continent’s largest economy and the African country with the highest GDP per capita, respectively.

  • I think it is a really good to understand how the world communicates. It is kind of like how the brain is connected with sparks going off in many places.

    Search google images for controlling-the-brain-with-light_1.jpg

    Cheers,
    @JosephGourvenec

  • Thousands of volts? Are you sure about that?

  • Interesting that there aren’t any links from Eastern Russia into Alaska or anywhere in North America, all that traffic has to go via Tokyo? Also, look how busy Guam is! I suppose it is strategic US territory.

  • Just wait until the Internet of things lights up the planet.

    Then satellites will get confused and collide with each other …

  • Drawing on a 3D model globe will make much better sense?

  • Thanks for this – A really interesting insight which took me back 20 years to when I was working with a UK telecomms company and 20 of us were sent to the beach in Aldeburgh Suffolk to help bring the tail of a new cable to the international exchange – I never thought these same cables would now be carrying the internet to every corner of the globe.

  • Great article, it is nice to have the stuff like this. You show a wonderful picture of internet connection around the world.


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