How to Lie with Maps

1. Maps inherently distort reality, making "white lies" essential for clarity.

To portray meaningful relationships for a complex, three-dimensional world on a flat sheet of paper or a video screen, a map must distort reality.

Essential distortion. Maps, by their very nature, cannot perfectly represent the three-dimensional Earth on a two-dimensional surface. This fundamental challenge necessitates "white lies"—deliberate distortions and omissions—to create a useful and understandable graphic model. Without these necessary simplifications, maps would be overwhelmed with detail, rendering them useless.

Trusting users. Most map users readily accept these white lies, often unaware of the extent of cartographic license. This inherent trust makes maps powerful tools for deliberate falsification or subtle propaganda, as users seldom question the authority of mapmakers. The rise of personal computers and user-friendly software further complicates this, allowing individuals to inadvertently create misleading maps that appear respectable.

Skepticism, not cynicism. The core message is to foster a healthy skepticism about maps, recognizing that any single map is merely one of countless possible representations of the same data or situation. Map authors can freely experiment with features, measurements, and symbols to present a specific case or reflect an unconscious bias. Understanding these inherent distortions and potential manipulations is key to informed map use.

2. Scale, projection, and symbols are fundamental sources of cartographic distortion.

No one can use maps or make maps safely and effectively without understanding map scales, map projections, and map symbols.

Three core elements. Every map relies on three basic attributes—scale, projection, and symbolization—each a potent source of distortion. Understanding these elements is paramount for both map creators and users to interpret geographic information accurately. Without this knowledge, maps can easily mislead, even unintentionally.

Scale's impact. Map scale dictates how much smaller the map is than reality, expressed as a ratio, verbal statement, or graphic bar. Large-scale maps (e.g., 1:24,000) show greater detail for smaller areas, while small-scale maps (e.g., 1:500,000) cover vast areas with less detail, inherently telling more "white lies." Graphic scales are the safest as they shrink or enlarge proportionally with the map, unlike ratio or verbal scales which become inaccurate if the map is resized.

Projection's challenge. Map projections transform the Earth's curved surface onto a flat plane, inevitably distorting areas, angles, shapes, distances, or directions. No flat map can preserve all these properties simultaneously. For instance, conformal projections preserve local angles (useful for navigation, like Mercator), while equal-area projections preserve relative sizes (useful for thematic maps). Cartograms, a highly tailored projection, intentionally distort geometry to represent non-spatial measures like travel time or population size, making a strong visual statement.

Symbol's language. Map symbols (points, lines, areas) translate geographic features into a graphic code. Their visual variables—size, shape, graytone value, texture, orientation, and hue—must be carefully chosen to match the type of data.

• Size for amount (e.g., number of people).
• Graytone value for intensity (e.g., population density).
• Hue (color) for qualitative differences (e.g., land use).
  Misusing these variables, such as using contrasting hues for quantitative differences, can confuse or mislead, as map users cannot easily order colors logically.

3. Map generalization, though necessary, can be subtly manipulated.

A good map tells a multitude of little white lies; it suppresses truth to help the user see what needs to be seen.

Clarity through simplification. Geometric generalization is crucial for map clarity, as map symbols are disproportionately larger than the features they represent. Without simplification, displacement, smoothing, and enhancement, maps would be cluttered and incomprehensible, especially at smaller scales. This process involves selecting features, altering their appearance, and adjusting their spatial positions to avoid graphic interference.

Content selection and classification. Content generalization filters out irrelevant details and groups similar features into categories, promoting clarity of purpose. However, this process introduces opportunities for bias.

• Template effect: Standardized symbols can misinform by grouping functionally different features under the same representation (e.g., full vs. partial highway interchanges).
• Fuzzy boundaries: Crisp lines on maps (like soil boundaries) often represent inherently fuzzy realities, and their transfer from unrectified aerial photos can introduce false accuracy into digital systems.

Computer-aided bias. While computers can generalize maps efficiently, they can also introduce systematic bias. Different display priorities can yield radically different cartographic pictures from the same database, emphasizing urban, agricultural, or forest land based on predefined weights. Choropleth maps, in particular, are susceptible to manipulation through the arbitrary selection of class breaks, which can drastically alter perceived spatial patterns and support divergent political interpretations.

4. Maps are prone to blunders, both careless and deliberate.

By definition a blunder is not a lie, but the informed map user must be aware of cartographic fallibility, and even of a bit of mischief.

Human fallibility. Mapmakers, being human, make mistakes due to poor training, sloppy design, inattention, or inadequate editing. These blunders are more common on derivative maps (compiled from other maps) than on base maps (from primary data like aerial photos). Examples include:

• Omissions: AAA "losing Seattle" or the Canadian government omitting Ottawa from a tourist map.
• Misplacements: A Philippine naval officer mistaking a navigation line for a national boundary, nearly causing an international incident.
• Misspellings: An early 20th-century news map misspelling "Illinois."

Wartime consequences. Inaccurate maps can have deadly consequences in warfare, as seen in the American Civil War and the 1983 Grenada invasion, where outdated or erroneous maps led to strategic failures and friendly fire incidents. News media, under deadline pressure and often lacking cartographic expertise, frequently publish maps with crude boundaries, mislabeled features, or misplaced symbols.

Deliberate mischief. Beyond carelessness, some blunders are intentional. Map publishers have been known to insert "trap streets"—fictitious features—to detect copyright infringement by competitors. Drafters sometimes add humorous or personal fictional elements, like "Mount Richard" or the Michigan highway map's "goblu" and "beatosu" towns, reflecting football rivalries. Printing processes can also distort graytones through "ink spread," making light areas appear dark or vice versa, especially with fine dot screens, altering the map's intended message.

Temporal inconsistencies. Maps are perishable; their information can quickly become outdated. The publication date often differs from the data collection date, and information compiled from multiple sources can have varying temporal relevance.

• Obsolete features: Maps of rapidly developing urban areas can be appallingly obsolete.
• Planning errors: Fairfax County, Virginia, faced costly consequences due to outdated planning maps that allowed development in the path of a planned highway.
• Statistical issues: Census data, especially when combined with mid-decade surveys, can create misleading ratios due to population changes or inconsistent definitions, particularly for small or rapidly growing areas.
• Electronic data errors: Digital map files, especially when combining data from various sources, can suffer from misalignments ("slivers") or programming flaws, leading to inaccurate geographic information systems.

5. Advertising maps strategically distort to entice and promote.

In promoting a favorable comparison with similar products, differentiating a product from its competitors, or flattering a corporate image, an ad must suppress or play down the presence of salt and saturated fat, a poor frequency-of-repair record, or convictions for violating antitrust, fair-employment, and environmental regulations.

Limited truth. Advertising and cartography share a common need to communicate a limited version of the truth. Ads must create appealing images, and maps must be clear, but neither can show everything. When location is key, maps become central to advertising, exploiting their need for graphic clarity to suppress or exaggerate information.

Transport promotion. Transportation ads frequently use maps to exaggerate service quality or convenience.

• Railroads: Maps might straighten sinuous routes, deemphasize competitors, and suggest direct connections to downtowns, even if terminals are miles away.
• Airlines: Hub-and-spoke system maps might imply all flights are nonstop and connections are seamless, ignoring intermediate stops, varying frequencies, or long walks between gates.
  These maps prioritize a dramatic, busy appearance over strict geographic accuracy.

Single-place focus. Maps promoting a specific store or resort aim to convey accessibility or exclusivity. They might distort distances to make a location seem conveniently close to many towns, even if some have their own competitors. This "place-name dropping" flatters residents and creates an image of widespread appeal. Cartographic puns, like Florida shaped as a pistol for a handgun convention, use humorously distorted maps as eye-catchers.

Numerousness as success. Maps can also equate quantity with success and quality. A regional restaurant chain might use a map dotted with its many locations to suggest widespread acceptance and a superior product. Similarly, a software vendor might highlight sales to larger, sparsely populated states to create the impression that "well over half the country" uses their system, even if their market share is modest.

6. Development maps are powerful tools for persuasion and advocacy.

As an inherently selective view of reality, the map often becomes a weapon in adversarial negotiations between developers and the local planning board.

Planning's cartographic core. Maps are indispensable for urban and regional planning, detailing proposed developments like shopping malls or subdivisions. They help public officials assess impacts on neighborhoods, traffic, and the environment. Planning boards use official maps, master plans, and zoning maps to control land use and evaluate requests for variances or major modifications.

Manipulating perception. Developers use maps to impress distant residents with elegance and convenience, while downplaying negative impacts. They often have deeper pockets, allowing for nicer, more persuasive maps that:

• Suppress negatives: Omit dumpsters, litter, traffic, or portray skinny saplings as mature shade trees.
• Accentuate positives: Highlight unobtrusive entrances or "before-and-after" views showing the displacement of an eyesore.
• Generalize creatively: Filter or enhance details, massage contours or soil boundaries, or even alter property lines, passing it off as "cartographic license."

Environmental impact statements (EIS). Maps are critical components of EIS, which assess a project's likely adverse effects on vegetation, wetlands, water, soils, and historic sites. Developers' consultants might:

• Alter categories: Replace technical definitions with favorable interpretations.
• Omit parcels: "Inadvertently" exclude small areas that might disqualify a larger tract.
• Lack transparency: Fail to show actual subsurface core sample locations, making it hard to verify the map's generalization.
  Opponents often scrutinize these maps, checking them against field realities.

Polishing the image. Developers employ various tactics to enhance their cartographic image:

• Strategic framing: Cropping maps to avoid unattractive neighboring sites.
• Dazzling with detail: Using excessive, irrelevant minutiae to distract from embarrassing details.
• Enchanting with elegance: Employing "tree stamps" to transform barren plans into pleasant, green neighborhoods.
• Concept diagrams: Schematic, stylized maps that demonstrate functional relationships and suggest revitalization, encouraging viewers to want the plan to work.
  These tactics are most effective with less sophisticated audiences, like local planning boards, but can backfire in court.

7. Political propaganda heavily leverages cartographic manipulation.

The propagandist molds the map's message by emphasizing supporting features, suppressing contradictory information, and choosing provocative, dramatic symbols.

Maps as weapons. Maps are fundamental intellectual and tactical weapons in political propaganda, shaping opinion on territorial claims, national pride, borders, and strategic positions. Propagandists exploit the public's trust in maps, using intriguing and authoritative visuals to convey biased or fraudulent information.

Icons of nationhood. Maps serve as powerful symbols of state power and national unity. From 16th-century national atlases asserting monarchical rule to post-WWII national atlases symbolizing new nations' independence, maps legitimize territorial claims. In disputes, nations use maps to graphically annex contested territories or deny political realities, while neutral countries navigate a thin cartographic line. Even postage stamps become small but numerous propaganda tools, asserting claims to disputed islands or distant continents.

Size and significance. Propaganda maps manipulate projections to inflate or diminish a country's perceived size and importance.

• Mercator projection: Vastly enlarges poleward areas, historically used to magnify the Soviet Union's size and perceived threat.
• Peters projection: An equal-area projection, controversially promoted as a "more egalitarian" representation of the globe, flattering Third World nations by accurately showing their land area, though often distorting shapes.
  A demographic cartogram, where country size reflects population, could be even more effective in boosting the importance of populous nations like China and India.

Historical justification. Nazi propagandists extensively used maps in publications like Facts in Review to justify German expansion and keep America neutral before WWII.

• Sympathy: Maps compared Germany's "encirclement" in 1914 with its "breakthrough to the Atlantic" in 1940, portraying Germany as a victim or a nation reclaiming its rightful place.
• Anti-British sentiment: Maps highlighted the vast British Empire to suggest greed and contrasted it with "little Germany's" limited land.
• Treachery: Facsimile maps were used to "prove" Allied plots, justifying German preemptive strikes.
• Repatriation: Maps depicted Germany as a peacemaker, "correcting mistakes of geography and history" by repatriating ethnic Germans.
• Isolationism: "Spheres of Influence" maps urged Americans to stay out of European affairs.

Cartographic assault weapons. Specific symbols are deployed for maximum impact:

• Arrows: Dramatize attacks, troop concentrations, or invasions, conveying overwhelming threats or successful maneuvers.
• Bomb/missile symbols: Impress viewers with the scale of arsenals or the threat of nuclear war.
• Circles: Show striking zones or missile ranges, lending a geometric purity often mistaken for accuracy, or used by environmental groups to highlight danger zones around proposed facilities.
• Place-names (toponyms): Manipulated to suppress one ethnic influence and inflate another, or used by local activists to highlight social inequalities (e.g., infant mortality rates compared to different countries).

8. Governments use maps for defense, secrecy, and disinformation.

A good defense establishment knows how to guard its maps and their geographic details and yet at times to leak false information the enemy might think is true.

Guarding geographic intelligence. Mapped information is a strategic asset, and governments rigorously guard their maps to prevent enemies from knowing their weaknesses, strengths, or plans. Historically, detailed scale models of border towns were kept secret, and revealing strategic map information has been considered treason.

Modern vulnerabilities. The shift to electronic maps in computer databases introduces new security challenges:

• Hackers: Compulsive computer enthusiasts can penetrate and alter supposedly secure databases, posing a threat to cartographic data integrity.
• Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP): High-altitude nuclear explosions can generate EMPs, capable of destroying electronic systems and magnetic storage devices, rendering digital maps unreadable. Governments are "hardening" systems and stockpiling paper maps as backups.

Soviet disinformation. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union systematically falsified geographic locations on maps sold to the public. This "disinformation" policy, controlled by the NKVD (security police), deliberately distorted the positions and forms of villages, coastlines, rivers, and other features.

• Examples: The town of Logashkino appeared in different locations (coast vs. inland) on various Soviet maps over decades. Salmi, on Lake Ladoga, was shifted by kilometers on different editions.
• Urban maps: Tourist maps of Moscow omitted principal thoroughfares, scales, and important buildings like the KGB headquarters, making navigation difficult for outsiders.
• Cessation: This practice eventually stopped due to its high cost, hindrance to economic development, and the advent of sophisticated spy satellites that rendered such falsifications ineffective.

Censorship of silence. While some countries like the US are more cartographically open than others (e.g., Britain's Ordnance Survey disguising sensitive sites), a more subtle form of censorship exists: the "censorship of silence." This involves omitting features or conditions that might embarrass officials or polluters, or challenge social and political values.

• Love Canal: Topographic maps of the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, New York, failed to show the hazardous waste dump or its tragic history, despite its profound impact on human health.
• Social issues: Basic city maps typically show infrastructure and landmarks but omit dangerous intersections, impoverished neighborhoods, or high-crime areas.
  These omissions, by focusing on the interests of developers and engineers, constitute a form of geographic disinformation, neglecting concerns vital to public health, safety, and social well-being.

9. Statistical maps are easily manipulated through aggregation and classification.

A single set of numerical data, say, for the states of the United States, can yield markedly dissimilar maps.

Data's deceptive flexibility. A single dataset can produce vastly different maps depending on how the data are aggregated and classified. This flexibility makes statistical maps powerful but also prone to unintentional self-deception or deliberate manipulation by map authors.

Areal aggregation's impact. Most quantitative maps display data aggregated by administrative units (counties, states, census tracts). The choice of areal unit significantly affects the mapped pattern of rates and ratios.

• Different patterns: Aggregating town-level data into different county configurations can yield strikingly different spatial patterns, even from the same underlying data.
• Homogeneity assumption: Maps often assume homogeneity within areal units, but this can hide significant internal variations (e.g., a high average income in a village might mask widespread poverty).
• Nondisclosure rules: Aggregation is often necessary due to privacy concerns, but analysts must qualify conclusions by stating the geographic unit used and be wary of manipulators who choose the aggregation level that best supports their point.

Classification's influence. Choropleth maps further aggregate data by grouping values into categories, each represented by a single symbol. The choice of class breaks can drastically alter the map's visual message.

• Default options: Mapping software often provides "default" classification schemes (e.g., equal intervals or quantiles) that can create misleading patterns, such as empty categories or highly heterogeneous groups.
• Number lines: Conscientious map authors use number lines to visualize data distribution, identify natural breaks, and choose meaningful categories, avoiding arbitrary classifications that obscure trends or oversimplify complex patterns.
• Outliers: Extremely high or low values (outliers) can confound classification, requiring careful consideration—should they be grouped, given their own category, or treated as "outcasts"?

Correlation and visual perception. Choropleth maps can distort the perceived correlation between two variables.

• Manipulated breaks: Carefully chosen class breaks can make a strong correlation appear weak, or vice versa, especially if the most eye-catching (darkest) symbols align or misalign.
• Areal unit size: Visual estimates of correlation can be biased by the size of areal units; large, similar areas can mask significant dissimilarities in smaller areas.
• Scatterplots: Statistical analysts use scatterplots and correlation coefficients (r) to objectively measure linear correlation, complementing maps by revealing strength, direction, and outliers, which maps alone cannot reliably convey.

Time and small numbers. Maps showing rates based on infrequent events (e.g., rare cancers) are particularly susceptible to distortion due to "small numbers."

• Chance patterns: Apparent clusters might arise by chance, and slight changes in case numbers or arbitrary boundaries can drastically alter perceived "hot spots."
• Aggregation over time: Combining data over longer periods can dampen chance effects but risks masking temporal trends or new causal agents.
• Demographic adjustment: Rates should be adjusted for demographic factors (e.g., age) to reveal true patterns, as crude rates can be misleading (e.g., age-adjusted death rates showing different patterns than crude rates).
  Map authors must be aware of these pitfalls and provide multiple maps or allow user experimentation to avoid misleading interpretations.

10. Color on maps is attractive but often misleading and culturally biased.

Color symbols can make a map visually attractive as well as fulfill the mapmaker's need for contrast on road maps, geological maps, and other maps with many categories.

Color's dual nature. Color is a powerful cartographic tool, capable of enhancing visual appeal and providing contrast. However, its complexity and seductive nature often lead to misuse, especially with the advent of inexpensive color printing and digital displays. Many maps prioritize looking "pretty" over being informative, leading to misinterpretation.

Hue for qualitative, value for quantitative. Color has three dimensions: hue (the color itself), value (lightness/darkness), and saturation (intensity).

• Hue: Best for portraying qualitative differences (e.g., land uses, dominant religions) because spectral hues lack a logical ordering in the mind's eye. Using contrasting hues for quantitative differences (percentages, rates) is confusing, as users cannot easily sort them from low to high without constant reference to the legend.
• Value: Ideal for quantitative differences, as a progression from light to dark is universally understood to represent "less to more."
• Saturation: Less commonly used as a conscious visual variable.

Effective color schemes. While full-spectral scales (like a rainbow) are generally confusing for choropleth maps, some partial-spectral or single-hue scales can be effective if they maintain a consistent light-to-dark value progression (e.g., light yellow to dark brown, or light blue to dark blue). Double-ended scales, using contrasting hues (e.g., blues for losses, reds for gains) with neutral grays for minor change, are useful for showing positive and negative rates of change.

Emotional and cultural biases. Colors evoke emotional responses and carry culturally conditioned meanings that can subtly influence map interpretation.

• Preferences: Color preferences vary by culture, age, and gender (e.g., men prefer blue to red, women prefer red to blue).
• Associations: Red can connote anger, power, or Communism; blue, coldness or aristocracy; green, envy or nature. These associations can be exploited by propagandists (e.g., painting "Red" countries).
• Landscape metaphors: Cartographers often use green for vegetation, blue for water, and yellow for desert, but these associations can be misleading if the reality differs (e.g., lowland deserts).
• Hypsometric tints: The common green-to-yellow-to-brown elevation scale can falsely suggest lush lowlands and barren highlands.

Perceptual challenges.

• Simultaneous contrast: Juxtaposed colors can appear more contrasting than they are, making a light color seem lighter when surrounded by dark, and vice versa.
• Patch size: Large areas of color appear more saturated than small patches of the same color, leading to misinterpretation when comparing map areas to small legend samples.
• Camouflage: Poor contrast between type and background colors (e.g., yellow type on white) can make labels illegible.
• Electronic displays: Color monitors have dark backgrounds, and white can "bloom." Limited color palettes in software can force inappropriate color choices.
  Skeptical map users must be aware of these perceptual effects and question whether color is used to inform or merely to impress.

11. A healthy skepticism is crucial for discerning map authors' motives.

The skeptical map viewer will assess the map author's motives and ask how the need to impress might have subverted the need to inform.

Dual roles of maps. Maps often serve a dual purpose: to inform and to impress. Beyond conveying geographic information, maps can be visually attractive, intriguing, or important, acting as graphic fashion statements that send subtle messages about their authors, sponsors, or publishers. A flashy map might signal innovation, while an ornate historical map proclaims heritage.

Risk of subversion. This dual role carries inherent risks. When aesthetic goals or propagandist motives overshadow the need to inform, cartographic principles can be violated, and important information suppressed.

• Aesthetic over function: Maps, like buildings, suffer when form takes precedence over function, leading to designs that are beautiful but misleading or difficult to decode.
• Ideological suppression: Propagandists might knowingly choose inappropriate projections or dysfunctional symbols to hide ideologically inconvenient information.
• Expedient sloppiness: Map authors distracted by the need to decorate can produce sloppy, misleading maps.

Benefits of skepticism. Recognizing this versatility and the potential for manipulation should enhance a map viewer's healthy skepticism. However, this skepticism should not detract from appreciating the map's immense power to explore and explain geographic facts. White lies, as essential abstractions, offer enormous benefits for analysis and communication.

Informed engagement. Maps, like language or mathematics, have costs as well as benefits. When not guided by knowledge and honest intent, their power can become uncontrolled. An informed map user, by questioning motives and understanding cartographic principles, can better evaluate proposals, identify misinformation, and appreciate the map's true value as a tool for understanding our world.

Last updated: March 10, 2026