Juan Valdes
25th Annual National Geographic Bee, May 20–22, 2013
Posted by Juan Valdes on May 13, 2013 25th Annual National Geographic Bee, May 20–22, 2013 This year marks the 25th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee. As in 1989, the Geo Bee—as it is affectionately known around the Society—is part of the Society’s overall mission to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” and “to inspire people to care about our planet.” Since its…
2012—A CARTOGRAPHIC RECAP
Posted by Juan Valdes on January 4, 2013 Besides a shift in the delineation of the International Date Line, the self-declaration of two semi-autonomous regions, and the discovery of a “phantom island” in the South Pacific, 2012 has proven to be quite an interesting year. Read on: International Date Line – January 1st At the start of 2012, two political entities—Samoa and Tokelau…
Sandy Island (Île de Sable or Île de Sables): The Island That Never Was
Posted by Juan Valdes on November 29, 2012 National Geographic’s 1921 Sovereignty and Mandate Boundary Lines of the Islands of the Pacific map During the week of Thanksgiving, news sites around the world began carrying the story of Sandy Island (Île de Sable or Île de Sables)—a phantom island situated in the Coral Sea, some 1,200 kilometers (648 nautical miles) east of Queensland,…
GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS WEEK – NOVEMBER 11-17, 2012: Being a National Geographic Cartographer
Posted by Juan Valdes on November 9, 2012 Geography Awareness Week is celebrated in the United States every third week of November. This year’s theme—Declare Your Interdependence—is intended to explore the idea that we are all connected through the decisions we make on a daily basis, including what foods we eat and which products we buy. As part of this year’s celebration,…
Cartographic Diligence
Posted by Juan Valdes on October 23, 2012 One of the greatest advantages of living in the digital age is that geopolitical events, regardless of what remote corner of the planet they occur, are posted on the web within minutes if not hours after they happen. Sometimes pivotal events occur in little-known places (to most Americans) such as Abbottabad, Pakistan—the site of the…
Of National Geographic Maps and Urban Legends
Posted by Juan Valdes on August 3, 2012 Rarely a year goes by that I am not asked the following question: “Is it true that, for copyright purposes, National Geographic cartographers always embed an error or two on their maps?“ I always respond with an emphatic NO! Quite the opposite is true of maps published by National Geographic. National Geographic cartographers strive for…
Where scale permits
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 20, 2012 As is frequently the case, National Geographic mapmakers―for that matter, mapmakers worldwide―often face the problem of having to fit too much cartographic information into too little cartographic space. Scale, which defines the mathematical relationship between linear measurement on a map to that on the Earth’s surface, ultimately determines how much information can be portrayed on…
2012 National Geographic Geo Bee: How do you pronounce that?
Posted by Juan Valdes on May 24, 2012 Since 1989, the National Geographic has encouraged teachers to spark student interest in geography through the National Geographic Bee. As outlined on the Study Corner page of the Geo Bee site, there are many things that students should do to prepare for this contest. But little is known as to what it takes for the…
Cyrenaica, Libya: Part II
Posted by Juan Valdes on March 15, 2012 Map of the Countries Bordering the Mediterranean Supplement, January 1912 A year ago, a blog titled Cyrenaica, Libya was posted on the NGM Blog Central site. It was spurred by a number of letters received about the meaning of this geographic term and how it is portrayed on our maps. Much has happened in Libya…
Cyrenaica, Libya: Part I
Posted by Juan Valdes on March 15, 2012 NG Maps knows that many of our readers are curious about place-names on our maps because of the number of letters we receive. But it’s during times of political upheaval that our maps are more closely scrutinized, and we brace ourselves for receiving many more letters. For example, since the start of the…
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S CARTOGRAPHIC TYPEFACES
Posted by Juan Valdes on February 9, 2012 Our maps have long been known for their distinctive typefaces. But few outside the Society know little of the history that lies behind them. Until the early 1930s, most of our maps were hand- lettered—a slow and tedious process requiring great patience and even greater skill. An alternate process—that of setting names in movable type,…
2011—A CARTOGRAPHIC RECAP
Posted by Juan Valdes on December 29, 2011 Although nothing compared to what we mapmakers experienced during the heady days following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990′s, National Geographic maps have kept pace with–and portrayed–all of the major and minor geopolitical events of 2011. Notably among these: January CUBA: Cuba officially creates two new provinces on New Year’s Day–Artemisa…
Recollections of a National Geographic Maps Intern
Posted by Juan Valdes on December 21, 2011 Harry Bergmann and Kayla Surrey, NG Maps’ Research and Editorial Interns (Fall 2011), editing the Society’s new map of Southeast Asia. My name is Harry Bergmann, a senior at the George Washington University majoring in geography and philosophy. I have dreamed about working at National Geographic for as long as I can remember. After…
A map, as some ten-year-olds see it, ……
Posted by Juan Valdes on December 7, 2011 Mrs. Blythe’s fifth-grade social studies class, St. Martin’s Catholic School in Gaithersburg, Maryland Some of the thank-you cards made by the students—note their use and levels of map comprehension Unlike other core subjects such as history, foreign language, or the arts, there is no federal funding dedicated to advancing geography little less cartography education.…
“A country once know as ……”
Posted by Juan Valdes on December 2, 2011 Over the past several days the media has been reporting on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Myanmar. Some have prefaced their reports using the following verbiage: “Myanmar, a country once know as Burma ……” In 1989 the largest nation on the Southeast Asian mainland changed its name from Burma to Myanmar―a…
Updating NatGeo’s MapMaker 1-Page Map Library
Posted by Juan Valdes on November 4, 2011 Keeping our library of cartography fresh, accurate, and current is a priority for us at National Geographic. And our maps for educators and students are no exception. The downloadable black-and-white 1-page maps of continents, countries, and states have been a staple of the National Geographic website for over ten years. Formerly known as Xpeditions maps,…
Mapping Our Nation’s Ascendancy
Posted by Juan Valdes on November 3, 2011 This year marks the beginning of the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial. Just six months after commemorations began, sales of National Geographic’s Battles of the Civil War map have increased exponentially. It appears this key period of our nation’s history remains in the hearts and minds of many of our citizens. I was well reminded of this…
“Sometimes, all you need is a map”
Posted by Juan Valdes on October 20, 2011 It’s 5:45 a.m. on a chilly October morning. The office is dead calm and my cup of coffee has just kicked in. Thirty emails await my response and two handfuls of map projects need to be reviewed. Half of them, of course, are time sensitive. Where to begin? The project requiring the most urgent attention…
THE MAP OF MY DREAMS
Posted by Juan Valdes on July 26, 2011 In light of today’s Washington Post article , I wanted to share some thoughts on our new Cuba map . My career as a cartographer, and now as The Geographer, at the National Geographic Society, spans more than 30 years. In that time I have worked, in one manner or another, on most if not all…
Tibet’s Disputed Place-Names
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 14, 2011 Tibetan place-names on Plates 116-117 of the first edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World (1963) were shown in romanized Tibetan followed by their romanized Chinese names in parentheses. Tibetan place-names on Plate 86 of the ninth edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World (2011) are shown in romanized Chinese (Pinyin).…
“Giorraíonn Beirt Bóthar —Two shorten the road”
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 10, 2011 Southwestern County Donegal (Dún Na nGall), National Geographic’s map of Ireland (Éire) Depending on the type of map (whether physical or political), National Geographic maps use conventional (English) spellings, native spellings, or a combination of both (where scale permits). For example, when a commonly recognized form of a well-known place-name, such as Bombay,…
A Map Designers’ Journey Through Hallowed Ground
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 9, 2011 Having grown up in Virginia, working as the designer for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground map has brought back many fond memories. At one time or another, I have visited most of the towns, fished or canoed the creeks, and strolled through many of the parks shown on this map. For most native…
CUBA ON MY MIND: “At the corner of Yield and One Way”
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 7, 2011 National Geographic’s 2011 new map of Cuba Shortly after the posting of this blog, all 3,000 copies of National Geographic’s new map of Cuba will have come off the presses. It has been our intent that all blogs in this series have given you some insight into what it takes for us to…
CUBA ON MY MIND: An Editorial Tour of the Island
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 7, 2011 Cuba Map: Editorial revisions on a section of the Final Correction copy. Twenty correction copies with over 800 revisions were made to the map before it was cleared to go on press. When I tell people that my profession is that of a map editor at National Geographic, I oftentimes get “What does that…
CUBA ON MY MIND: Creating a New Classic Map
Posted by Juan Valdes on June 7, 2011 Base map of Cuba as first exported from GIS prior to styling in Adobe Illustrator. Ever since first becoming a cartographer at the National Geographic Society it has been the creation of new maps that has so appealed to me. To take a mountain of lines, place-names, and other geographic data and meld it all…
