The use of cartogram maps in population analysis

Population is significantly important for countries in many fields, especially in social, political and military fields, so the analysis of the population is required. In this study, it was examined what extend effective the visualization of cartograms in population analysis. The main difference of this study from previous researches is that cartograms were analyzed with GIS tools here. This study is important in terms of demonstrating that cartograms are an important data display tool in population analysis. In order to examine the impact of cartograms on visualizing population data, the cartograms were analyzed based on the performance and accuracy (geographical, statistical, topological) criteria. The high achievement has been obtained in all cartogram types analyzed based on the performance criteria. The cartograms are representing the data well by generating powerful visualizations for the population data. In this respect, cartograms can be applied to analyze data regarding population. None of the cartogram types examined using population data based on accuracy (geographic, topological, statistical) satisfied all criteria alone. A selection should be made between these criteria, depending on the purpose of the study and the performance expected from the cartogram. Non-contiguous cartograms in studies where geographical accuracy is important, contiguous cartograms in studies where topological accuracy is important, and dorling cartograms in studies where statistical accuracy is important can be employed.