How To Make Geographic Map Visualizations (10 Must-Know Tidyverse Functions #6)

Written by Matt Dancho on December 8, 2020

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This article is part of a R-Tips Weekly, a weekly video tutorial that shows you step-by-step how to do common R coding tasks.

If you are explaining data related to geography or just want to visualize by latitude / longitude location, you need to know ggplot2 & the tidyverse for making maps.

This tutorial will show you how to make a publication-quality visualization! Here are the links to get set up. 👇

• Get the Code
• YouTube Tutorial

Working with Map Data

The first thing we need when creating a map is data that represents the latitude and longitude. We need to use a function called map_data() to collect the data in the right structure for a ggplot2 map.

Map Data

Using the map_data() function to collect lat/long data for the entire World.

Plotting the Map Data with ggplot2

We can use the geom_map() & coord_map() functions to plot the world.

Visualizing Republican Voting

So what can we do with Map Data + ggplot2? How about visualizing how the US voted in 1976?!

The look on your coworker's face speaks volumes. 👇

But you don’t have the force yet!

Here’s how to master R programming and become powered by R. 👇

…Your executive management review after you’ve launched your your first Shiny App. 👇

This is career acceleration.

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