Cloudera Docs

Choropleth country map

Map visuals can show relative measurement values for countries as colored areas. A world map can be used to show a comparison of measurement values among countries. With data that meets ratio and statistical continuity guidelines, a choropleth map is a good chart choice.

The following steps demonstrate how to create a new map visual on the dataset World Life Expectancy [data source samples.world_life_expectancy]. It produces colored regions for the measurements that correspond to the country field.

  1. Start a new visual based on the World Life Expectancy dataset.
    For instructions, see Creating a visual.
  2. In the VISUALS menu, find and click Map.
    The shelves of the visual changed. They are now Geo, Color, Size, Drill, Tooltips, X Trellis, Y Trellis, and Filters. The only mandatory shelf for map visuals is Geo.
  3. Populate the shelves from the available fields (Dimensions and Measures) in the DATA menu.
    1. Under Dimensions, select country and add it to the Geo shelf.
    2. Under Measures, select gdp_per_capita and add it to the Color shelf.
    3. Under Measures, select year and add it to the Filters shelf. When the Filter for year window modal appears, select 2010 in the Values tab, and click Apply.
  4. Click REFRESH VISUAL.
    The map visual graph appears.
  5. Optional: On the Tooltips shelf, add several fields from Dimensions and Measures.
    This enables you to see specific descriptive information in your visuals, such as input values, segment affiliation, and calculations.

    For example, from Dimensions, add un_subregion, un_region, and year onto the Tooltip shelf.

  6. Optional: Alias the fields on the shelves to improve the readability of the visual and its tooltip. See Alias.
    • gdp_per_capita as GDP per Capita
    • un_subregion as UN Subregion
    • un_region as UN Region
    • year as Year
  7. Optional: Format the number reported by the GDP per Capita field to include a thousands separator, and format Year not to use the thousands separator.
    For more information, see Real number display format and Integer display format.
  8. Optional: [Recommended] Enable panning and zooming option, as described in Customizing zoom.
  9. Optional: Change the color palette to blue, as described in Change color palette of visuals.
  10. Click REFRESH VISUAL.
    The map visual appears. You can move the visual (pan), zoom in and out, and see the details in the Tooltips text.
  11. Click the pencil/edit icon next to the title of the visualization to enter a name for the visual.

    In this example, the title is changed to 'World Population - Choropleth Map'. You can also add a brief description of the visual as a subtitle below the title of the visualization.

  12. At the top left corner of the Dashboard Designer, click SAVE.