The task is to visualise birth rates and death rates globally as a classified choropleth map.

Stage 1: Finding and Selecting your data

The ESDS International CommonGIS interface to CIA World Factbook data is hosted by Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology and can be accessed from the ESDS International website under Data > Visualisation Interface.

In the opening screen a map with pre-loaded boundary data is displayed. Click Display > Display wizard to open the Select attributes window, then highlight two attributes - Birth rate and Death rate (per 1000) and move to Selected attributes and click OK.

Stage 2: Choosing method of visualisation

The visualisation options will differ according to the number of attributes chosen. When two attributes are chosen the options are; Pies, Triangles, Multiple choropleths and Cross-classification . In the Select display type window, highlight the Cross-classification option and click OK. A classified choropleth map will appear showing the global birth and death rates.

Stage 3: Manipulating the spatially mapped data

The classified choropleth map shows the average annual number of deaths per 1,000 at midyear and the average annual number of births per 1,000 at midyear. The above screenshot shows that Angola has a high birth rate (44.51) and death rate (24.81) compared with Singapore's low birth rate (9.17) and death rate (4.4).

Congratulations! You have completed the ESDS International introductory worksheet for CommonGIS using international data. Now you are ready to further explore the functionality of the software for manipulating and visualising international data. For further information on the functionality of the CommonGIS software, see our comprehensive guide (www.esds.ac.uk/international/support/user_guides/gisoverview.asp).