Back to the beginning – mapping inequality

So in my first post I’ve already got diverted onto funky new products – the portable light – that are ultimately outcomes of the current state of digital inequality, rather than discovering anything about access to and use of digital technology the world over.

Happily, I have discovered Gapminder, a fab mapping / graphmaking device using UN human development report stats.

I made this map, based on the percentage of internet users per country, for 2000. Use the slider to take it up to 2004, the latest year the stats are available on Gapminder. Go there and make your own maps and graphs.

In 2000, the Democratic Republic of Congo was on 0%, in 2002 it had leapt up to 0.1%. In 2004 it’s not even on the map – presumably no data was collected in the aftermath of the most deadly war since World War Two.

Sweden comes top by the way – 76% compared to the US’s 63%.