The Mapnificent Maps of the Week

Real-time transit maps are kind of old news these days. However that didn't stop VBB-Livekarte becoming by far and away the most read post on Maps Mania this week.

VBB-Livekarte is an interactive map showing the real-time position of buses, trams and trains in Berlin. Although the concept might not be knew I think part of the success of VBB-Livekarte is due to its huge scale. The map shows around 1,000 rail lines & bus routes and more than 13,000 stops & stations on the VBB network, Using the map you can watch all the long-distance & regional trains, commuter trains, subway trains, trams, buses and ferries moving around Berlin in real-time.


Line of Sight was another very popular interactive map this week which seemed to cover some familiar ground. There are already a number of maps which allow you to track the real-time position of satellites orbiting the Earth. However the futuristic design of Line of Sight seems to have a struck a popular chord.

Enter your location into Line of Sight and you can view the current live position of satellites and their orbital tracks. Therefore you can use the map to find out which satellites might be passing overhead and then go outside and try to find them in the night sky.


There are now fewer than 60 Amur leopards living in the wild. Part of the reason for this is the loss of the leopard's natural habitat. Leopards have lost around 66% of their natural habitat in Africa and 85% in Eurasia. This loss of habitat and the effect on Leopards is explored in National Geographic's Learning to Live with Leopards.

National Geographic's report examines the relationship between man and leopard and the effect of the rising human population on the survival of this majestic animal. The report is accompanied by an interactive map which shows the leopard's historic range (from circa 1750) and its range today.

The map looks in turn at each of the subspecies of leopards (African, Arabian, Persian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Indochinese, Javan, North Chinese and Amur). When you select one of the subspecies the map zooms in on that species' natural habitat. The map shows the historical range and the current range of the selected subspecies of leopard, alongside the density of the human population. The map sidebar also reports on the estimated numbers left of each subspecies of leopard.