30 exquisite maps to teach a great deal about Estonia

Last November, a bunch of University of Tartu geographers participated in the #30DayMapChallenge on Twitter: Evelyn Uuemaa, Anto Aasa, Tõnu Oja, Janika Raun, Alexander Kmoch, and UT Mobility Lab.

Three geographers – Tõnu Oja, Professor of Geoinformatics and Cartography; Evelyn Uuemaa, Associate Professor in Geoinformatics; and UT Mobility Lab – managed to make thirty maps in a row, one each day. Evelyn repeated her 2019 accomplishment, which was when Finnish GIS professional Topi Tjukanov initiated the challenge for the first time.

In 2020, at least 1378 people tweeted the hashtag. 797 people made 6,882 maps. Geographers used open data and open-source software to make the maps.

Here come 30 selected maps by the University of Tartu geographers, grouped by topic. They visualize both essential and fun facts about Estonia. Clicking on a map opens a larger view.

Population

1. Population map of Estonia

2. Another population map of Estonia

Map: population in Estonia — Let’s repeat the population map in green. Data: Statistics Estonia. Map credit: Anto Aasa

3. Population map: Estonians and Russians

Map: Estonians and Russians in Estonia — A population map, where each person is shown as a random point in a residential building. 2011 census data was used to differentiate between ethnic Estonians and Russians.
Data: 2011 Population and Housing Census. Map credit: Ago Tominga / UT Mobility Lab

4. Expansion of Tallinn from the 13th C.

Map: expansion of Tallinn — Data: Building registry. Map credit: Anto Aasa

Nature

5. Green infrastructure of Estonia

Map: green infrastructure of Estonia — Green infrastructure encompasses forests, natural grasslands, semi-natural biotic communities, wetlands, and so on.
Data: Estonian Environmental Agency, Hendrikson&Co. Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

6. Estonian rivers

Map: Estonian rivers — Data: Estonian Land Board. Map credit: Alexander Kmoch

7. Standing waterbodies of Estonia

Map: standing waterbodies of Estonia — Data: Estonian Land Board. A pond for each and every Estonian? Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

8. Forest loss in Estonia from 2001 to 2019

Map: forest loss in Estonia — The current analysis does not consider forest gain. It only shows proportional loss and disturbances. The areas where forest loss has happened are mostly still considered as forest land and forest regrowth can take place.
Data: Global Forest Change (Hansen et al. 2013). Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

9. Air temperature on 13 November 2020

Map: variation of temperature in Estonia — Estonia is small, but there is still variation in temperature.
Data: Estonian Weather Service. Map credit: Anto Aasa

10. Climate change

Map: GPS points in ski park (Tartu) — In snowy winters, people follow the ski track. Map credit: Anto Aasa / UT Mobility Lab

Infrastructure

11. The electric grid in Estonia

Map: electric grid in Estonia — Data: Land Board, Estonian Topographic Database. Map credit: Anto Aasa

12. The barrier effect of roads

Map: the barrier effect of roads — The roads were extruded based on the traffic intensity.
Data: Estonian Road Administration. Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

13. High chimneys in Estonia

Map: high chimneys in Estonia — High chimneys indicate where manufacturing is located.
Data: Land Board, Estonian Topographic Database. Map credit: Anto Aasa

14. Number of companies in Tallinn

Map: number of companies in Tallinn — Data: Land Board; address data, Business Register. Map credit: Anto Aasa

15. Settlements with no bus stops

Map: settlements with no bus stops — Data: GTFS. Map credit: Janika Raun

Agriculture

16. Population of humans and pigs

Map: population of humans and pigs — Data: Statistics Estonia, population register; Estonian Livestock Performance Recording Ltd. Map credit: Anto Aasa

17. Agricultural fields in Estonia

Map: agricultural fields in Estonia — Data: Agricultural Registers and Information Board. Map credit: Tõnu Oja

18. Greenhouses in Estonia

Map: greenhouses in Estonia — Data: Land Board, Estonian Topographic Database. Map credit: Anto Aasa

19. Honey farms in Estonia

Map: honey farms in Estonia — Data: Agricultural Registers and Information Board. Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

The Estonian language

20. Dialects in Estonia

Map: Estonian dialects — The three most widely spoken dialects in Estonia – Võru, Saare, and Mulgi – are mapped as dots. One dot marks one person speaking the dialect at a random location in the respective territorial unit according to the 2011 census.
Data: Estonian Statistics. Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

21. The isoline of Õ

Map: the isoline of Õ — One of the coolest peculiarities in the Saaremaa dialect is that instead of the Estonian vowel Õ they use Ö. The isoline marks the line where the change in the vowel is found. Historically, it was mapped by Theodor Kaljo in the 1920s.
Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

22. Place names containing “saar” (“island” in Estonian)

Map: place names containing "saar" ("island" in Estonian) — Data: Land Board, Address data. Map credit: Anto Aasa

Tartu

23. Viewshed of the highest point in Tartu

24. Skyscrapers in Tartu

Map: skyscrapers in Tartu — Data: Landboard of Estonia. Map credit: Ago Tominga / UT Mobility Lab

25. Bridges in Tartu

Map: bridges in Tartu — Data: Land Board, Estonian Topographic Database. Map credit: Anto Aasa

26. Movement of people in Tartu

Map: movement of people in Tartu — The map is based on GPS tracking. Map credit: Anto Aasa / UT Mobility Lab

Varia

27. Regular movement in Estonia

Map: regular movement in Estonia — Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa. Data: Anto Aasa / UT Mobility Lab

28. Most visited Estonian municipalities by foreign tourists

Map: most visited Estonian municipalities by foreign tourists — Most visited Estonian municipalities by foreign tourists in 2016, calculated from mobile phone data. The size of each municipality is distorted in proportion to the number of visits it welcomed.
Data: Mobile Positioning Data. Map credit: Janika Raun / UT Mobility Lab

29. Painted Estonia

Map: painted Estonia — Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

30. Estonia in the style of Lord of the Rings

Map: Lord of The Rings style Estonia — Estonia in the style of *Lord of the Rings* looks historical, but it’s a fantasy. Map credit: Evelyn Uuemaa

Are you interested in maps and geography? Our international master’s programme in Geoinformatics for Urbanised Society (MSc) may be a good bet for you. If you would like to study in Estonian, please check out our BSc programme and MSc programme in Geography.

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