Author: Adam DuVander

We’re fond of the notion that maps tell a story. A spreadsheet can be a great way to organize data, but it also obfuscates insights that are made clear visually. Sometimes the underlying story is a good one, like the 36 hours of #love. Other times, as with the map of worldwide homicide data below, the story can expose some negative trends. A lot of good can come from telling a bad story. It can open eyes, inspire change, or simply start a conversation.

View Homicide Rates of World Cities in a full screen map

All of the cities on the homicide map have higher murder rates than anybody wants, though some are much worse than others. The homicide rate typically used to compare cities is the number of murders per 100,000 population of a city. This allows for more direct comparisons than actual homicide numbers.

Although, no matter how you look at the data, Mexico and south in the Americas have some serious issues. The highest homicide rate is in Iguala, Mexico. Its 183 murders for just 118,102 population put it at a rate of 154.95. Another 11 cities also have a rate of at least 100. The largest city in the bunch, San Pedro Sula in Honduras saw 2,777 murders in 2013 (the most recent data) for its population of just over 2 million. That’s a rate of 127.45 per 100,000.

In terms of raw homicide numbers, the only places outside of the above region with more than 1,000 murders is Karachi, Pakistan (population 21 million), and the three largest cities in South Africa.

By comparison, the United States looks tame, with every city on the lower end of the homicide rate. That said, the US has more cities on this map than any other country, with 16. The next highest is Columbia (15), then South Africa (12), Mexico (12), and Brazil (11). To appear on the list at all, these cities have some of the highest violent crime in the world.

Of course, these numbers are all self-reported. There is huge unrest in some African countries, for example, that isn’t tracked here. Also, areas at war are not included.

There are many other insights to be found in this map, or any map you make. Use BatchGeo’s grouping feature to filter and expose the stories within your data. Then go tell them.

A light flashes in the sky, a shape emerges that you cannot quite identify as manmade. Could it be a UFO? My strict definition, that object is both flying and unidentified. If you’re like thousands of others across the United States who have seen these, you’ll submit it through an online form or by calling a hotline. In 2015 alone, there were over 6,000 UFO reports, many including shapes and other details. We’ve plotted every one of these reports on the BatchGeo maps below.

View 2015 UFO Sightings, sum clustering in a full screen map

We’ve used our map clustering feature to show an overview of the more than 1,000 cities that had two or more potentially extraterrestrial sightings in 2015. This accounts for more than half of the overall sightings. The sum clustering shows the total reports for a region, and you can click a cluster to zoom into the area. Once you get to an individual marker, its contents will show the details of the most recent sighting.

All 6,267 reports are available in the detail map below, but this overview map gives a good idea of where you’re most likely to see a UFO—or, at least, where people are more likely to report them. This data was gathered by the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC).

While reports are predictably more common in higher population areas, big cities like New York and Los Angeles do not make the top 10. Phoenix had the most reports with 42, followed closely by Las Vegas at 41. Tucson, Portland (OR), and Chicago round out the top five, with around 25 reports each. Orlando, Boise, Albuquerque, San Diego, and Seattle complete the top 10.

Famous UFO landing spot Roswell, New Mexico, only had two reports in 2015, the same number as Roswell, Georgia.

View 2015 UFO Sightings in the US (detail) in a full screen map

The above detailed version of the UFO data shows every report from 2015. This can be great fun—or research—browsing the sightings near you. The details in the reports are sometimes humorous, sometimes insightful, as NUFORC attempts to explain some as satellites or stars.

One of the most interesting pieces of data in the reports are the shapes of the UFOs. The classic “flying saucer” disk is not as popular as you might expect (198 sightings, 10th most common). That said, circle (#2) and sphere (#5) were common. Seen in 20% of the reports, by far the most common “shape,” simply describes the UFO as light.

Have you seen a UFO? You’re not alone. You can join thousands of others by reporting it to NUFORC. Or grab the latest data and use it to create a BatchGeo map of your own.

The United States National Parks Service celebrates its Centennial this year, marking 100 years since it was founded in August of 1916. There are now 407 areas administered by the federal bureau, with 59 recognized as official parks, from Acadia to Zion. The map below shows the locations of these parks, as well as information about their size, age, and popularity.

View US National Parks in a full screen map

Oldest and Newest, Largest and Smallest

The oldest park and one of the better known is Yellowstone. With its wildlife, geysers (including Old Faithful), and varied views, Yellowstone was designated in 1890, 44 years before the National Park Service was created. Yellowstone was followed by California’s Yosemite and Sequoia in 1890, and six others added prior to 1916.

Four of the newest parks were added after the millennium. The newest is Pinnacles in California, designated in 2013. Other young parks include Great Sand Dunes in Colorado (2004), Congaree in South Carolina (2003), and Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio (2000).

The newest parks are also amongst the smallest, all below 50,000 acres. The very smallest is Hot Springs in Arkansas. Established in 1921, it is only 5,550 acres. Hot Springs could fit in Alaska’s Wrangell–St. Elias nearly 1,500 times. At over 8 million acres, the southeastern Alaska park and preserve is the nation’s largest. Alaska is also home to the next three largest parks: Gates of the Arctic, Denali, and Katmai. The largest park not in Alaska is Death Valley, shared by California and Nevada, and it’s not even half the size of Wrangell–St. Elias.

Death Valley is one of only three parks that span multiple states. The park in the most states is Yellowstone, which resides in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The Great Smoky Mountains also straddles state lines, covering both North Carolina and Tennessee.

The States of National Parks

Regionally, there’s not much competition—the west has clearly won. Only 22% of the national parks are east of the Mississippi, and only Shenandoah (Virginia), Congaree (South Carolina), and Great Smokey Mountains (North Carolina) are in the original 13 colonies.

However, when you go to the state level, there’s more competition. California has nine national parks, Alaska coming in next with eight—although, California does share one of those with Nevada. Utah is next with five, Colorado with four. Florida represents the east coast with three, tied with Arizona and Washington. Half of the 50 states have no national park at all.

Interestingly, not every park is even in a state. Two of the US Virgin Islands share Virgin Islands National Park. It is the third smallest at just shy of 15,000 and was added in 1956. Similarly, American Samoa has a national park, the second smallest at 9,000 acres. Established in 1988, it spans three islands.

Happy Birthday, National Parks

No matter the size, nearly 70 million visitors enter these national parks each year. 10 million of those visit Great Smoky Mountains, the most popular of these treasures. Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain round out the top five. At least 10,000 people visit each one, including the large and incredibly remote Gates of the Arctic in Alaska.

If you’re ready to find a national park to visit to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, perhaps choose one of the three volcanic parks that themselves were founded in 1916–Hawaii Volcanoes, Haleakalā on Maui, or Lassen Volcanic National Park in California.

Find your Nearest National Park

Search for nearest location:

On the chance those are too far away, use BatchGeo’s store locator feature to find your nearest. Just type your city, zip code, or address into the form above. Even though national parks aren’t stores, this feature works just as well for this usage. And we’re pretty confident you’ll be able to find at least one gift shop at each of these national parks, likely celebrating the Centennial all year long.