Did You Win the Global Lottery?

Are you feeling lucky? You probably should be. Based on where most Maps Mania readers are located, there’s a good chance you’ve already won the birth lottery.

The Birth Lottery map makes global inequality tangible by illustrating how much our quality of life depends on chance. With a single spin, the map randomly “re-births” you somewhere in the world based on real statistics. It poses a simple question: if you were one of the 251 people born this minute, where would you land? What opportunities would you get? And how much of your life really comes down to luck?

Each spin assigns you a country weighted by the number of births occurring there. Countries with higher birth rates are more likely to appear - meaning many users will quickly discover that their actual birthplace was, statistically speaking, a pretty fortunate outcome.

Once assigned a country, the map reveals a set of key indicators about what your life would likely look like there: average life expectancy, income levels, education, and other social and economic measures. These aren’t predictions about you as an individual, but a snapshot of the typical conditions people face in that place.

The aim of the map is to show how much of our life trajectory is shaped by where we happen to be born - which it does very effectively.

Via: Datawrapper's Data Vis Dispatch