Mapping the Connected Planet

If we humans could remove the artificial borders that we have imposed on the planet we just might discover that there is more that connects us as a species than separates us. One thing that does connect us as a species is all the global transportation, energy and communications infrastructure which we have built across planet Earth.

The Connectivity Atlas is a global map constructed from just the man-made infrastructure of roads, pipelines and Internet cables. There is no underlying base map on the Connectivity Atlas. There are no countries, seas or oceans. However, despite this lack of a base map, the geography of Earth is clearly revealed on the Connectivity Atlas simply by displaying all the world's man-made infrastructure.

You can explore all the transportation, energy and communication layers displayed on the map by using the 'Sources' drop-down menu. Using this menu you can turn on or off all the different layers which makes up the infrastructure map of the Connectivity Atlas.

The 'Themes' menu allows you to view separate infrastructure maps of just all the communications, energy or transportation layers. It is also possible to select a feature on the map to select to view a global map of just that feature. For example if you select a road on the map you can click-through to view a global map of just all the world's roads.