Category: mapping

Amid soaring home prices and increasing cars, gas, and food costs, it’s easy to forget about other million-dollar markets, like housing defendants awaiting a trial along with those who are found guilty of a crime. While we’re not footing the bill directly, prison costs U.S. taxpayers $80 billion a year.

Yet, all expenses considered, 266 countries have prisons that house over 10 million inmates in total. So, of the populations of prisons around the world, let’s take a look at the 10 countries with the most inmates and the highest prison populations per 100,000 people. We’ll also learn the percentage of incarcerated males and females, all of which you can also find on the map below.

View World’s prison population in a full screen map

10 Countries with the Most Inmates

Let’s first take a look at the total prison population count. Of the 226 countries on the map, ten are home to over 200,000 prisoners. Some even have an incarceration count near the multi-millions.

1. United States – 2,094,000 total prison population
2. China – 1,710,000
3. Brazil – 759,518
4. India – 478,600
5. Russia – 469,283
6. Thailand – 311,605
7. Turkey – 281,094
8. Indonesia – 256,051
9. Mexico – 215,232
10. Philippines – 215,000

The countries above hold the highest population of prisoners, with the most incarcerated in the U.S. America is the only country in the world to total over two million inmates. Many are housed in two of the largest jails: California’s Los Angeles County (inmate population of 19,836) and Rikers Island in New York (13,849 inmates). Along with the U.S., Brazil and Mexico are also home to high prison populations in the Americas.

But while the U.S. is the country with the most incarcerated individuals, Asia as a continent is where multiple countries with highly-populated prisons are located. The map shows pins clustered in Asia, representing the large prison populations of China, India, Thailand, Turkey, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

However, many of these countries with large prison populations are also the most generally populated in the world. So let’s see if the list changes when we take population into account.

Highest Prisoner Rate per 100,000 People

How does a country’s general population affect its incarceration rate—and its rank among the world’s countries with the most inmates? We’ll find out when we take a look at each country’s prison population per 100,000 people on the table below.

Country or subnational area	Rate per 100,000
United States	639
El Salvador	572
Turkmenistan	552
Palau	522
Rwanda	511
Cuba	510
Maldives	499
Thailand	449
British Virgin Islands	447
Bahamas	442

Once again, the U.S. tops the charts, even when population is considered. For every 100,000 people, 639 are incarcerated in the country. While this doesn’t 100% answer the question of what country has the worst prisons, the U.S. definitely has the most people in prison.

Thailand is the only country with a large count and a high rate of prisoners. No other country with a prisoner count falls on this list. But India (#4 in prisoner count) does make another list: lowest prisoner rate. While India houses 478,600 inmates, its rate of incarceration is the 15th lowest in the world (35 per 100,000 people).

Also in Asia: Turkmenistan, Maldives, and Thailand have the highest prisoner rates, joined by countries in the Americas: El Salvador, Cuba, British Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. We can now move on to our final deep dive into the data on the map: the percentage of males versus females in prison.

Percentage of Incarcerated Males & Females

That just leaves the percentage of male and female inmates, national and foreign percentage, along with occupancy and remand. We’ll address the percentage of male and female inmates now, and you discover more about the other categories by browsing the map.

Countries with All-Male Inmates

Did you know that seven countries have entirely all-male prison populations?

• Anguilla
• Faroe Islands
• Liechtenstein
• Marshall Islands
• Micronesia
• San Marino
• Tuvalu

Within these countries’ prisons, 100% are male inmates and 0% are female. The rest of the world’s male prison populations range from 99.7% (Mayotte) to 79.9% (Hong Kong). So let’s move on to female prison populations.

Highest Female Prison Populations

In contrast to male prison populations, female inmates are less common. The following countries have the highest percentage of female prisoners in the world:

• Hong Kong (20.1% female prisoners)
• Qatar (14.7%)
• Monaco (14.3%)
• Greenland (13.8%)
• Laos (13.7%)
• Myanmar (12.3%)
• Macau (12.2%)
• Thailand (12.2%)

And that’s a wrap on our map of the populations of prisons around the world. You’ll also want to check out Does Education Influence Incarceration? or Famous Filming Locations Pinned, containing infamous prisons in film.

You can find snakes on almost every continent in the world. As a result, human beings are bound to cross paths with a snake or two. Most of the time, nothing comes from these interactions. Yet occasionally, you might stumble across a venomous snake at the wrong time. The resulting bites can be deadly.

There have been 107 such bites in the U.S., most occurring in July as cold-blooded reptiles become more active in the warmer weather. Decreasing the odds of survival is the cost of treatment. Anti-venom costs around $2,500 per vial. One victim received eight vials of antivenom, yet still died. Even if you survive your first bite, your chances of doing so a second time decrease dramatically.

Of these deadly snake bites, one species has been the source of more bites than any other, including many of the youngest victims, which you can explore on the map below.

View Fatal Snake Bites in the U.S. in a full screen map

Deadliest Snake: Fatal Rattlesnake Bites

Of the 107 fatal U.S. snake bites on the map, Rattlesnake bites account for nearly 80% of deaths, with Copperheads and Cobras as the next most. Let’s slither into the subspecies statistics of these deadly Rattlesnake bites:

• Rattlesnake (no subspecies noted) – 53 fatal bites
• Timber Rattlesnake – 16
• Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake – 7
• Western Diamondback Rattlesnake – 3
• Southern Pacific Rattlesnake – 2
• Prairie Rattlesnake – 2
• Mojave Rattlesnake – 2

Unspecified Rattlesnake bites aside, the subspecies with the most death toll is the Timber Rattlesnake. Sixteen people in the U.S. have been bitten and subsequently died from these bites. Most took place in either Georgia (4) or West Virginia (3), seeing as Timber Rattlesnakes mostly reside in the Eastern U.S.

Several Timber Rattlesnake victims were bitten during church service, during “snake handling,” when snakes are voluntarily passed around among the congregants. Though laws exist to prevent this religious rite, one man was bitten as recently as 2015 during a religious service at a Pentecostal Church in Jenson, Kentucky. He refused treatment and died in his brother’s home. Three others also died under similar circumstances, all at the hands—or fangs—of the Timber Rattlesnake.

Additionally, there are seven deathly Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake bites, along with Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (3), Southern Pacific, Prairie, and Mojave Rattlesnake (2 each). For more on the other common though not as prevalent snake bites, check out the map. Otherwise, we’re moving on to the youngest victims, of which all but one were bitten by Rattlesnakes.

Youngest (& Oldest!) Victims to Venom

Snakes don’t have eyelids, so they needn’t blink. Even with this never-ending gaze, they can’t discern a victim’s age. Those bitten and killed by snakes in the U.S. range from just a year old to 80. Let’s take a closer look at the youngest victims on the table below.

Name	Age	Gender	Subspecies	State	Year	Additional information
Donald Bebis	1	male	Rattlesnake	MT	1965	15-month-old Don Bebis was playing in the yard at his home in Cat Creek, Montana, when he was bitten on both legs on August 4, 1965.
Karen Perry	1	female	Rattlesnake	CA	1953	15-month-old Perry was playing in the backyard of her home in Tujunga, California, when she was bitten on the hand by a “pencil thin,” 18-inch long rattlesnake.
Peyton Hood	1	female	Western Diamondback Rattlesnake	TX	2010	Accidentally stepped on baby Western Diamondback while climbing down ladder at Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. The snake struck her main artery. She was rushed to the hospital, but died within a few hours.
Derek Lema	2	male	Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake	FL	2000	Lema was bitten in the thigh by a rattlesnake while helping his father, Victor Lema, in their Lakewood Ranch, Florida, backyard.
Frank Benham	2	male	Prairie Rattlesnake	CO	1903	Benham died from a rattlesnake bite in Adams County, Colorado, 17 miles north of Deer Trail.
James Ananias Brannon	2	male	Rattlesnake	TX	1882	Brannon died from a rattlesnake bite received while lying on a blanket in Texas.
John Charles Goss	2	male	Rattlesnake	PA	1941	Bitten beneath the right knee while at a picnic near the city reservoir alongside the Willow Creek Highway in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Reba Ann Cooper	2	female	Rattlesnake	TX	1940	The daughter of a rancher, Cooper was bitten by a rattlesnake on a ranch near Rocksprings, Texas.
Gregory Lee Hall	3	male	Copperhead	AL	1976	Bitten on the right hand by a copperhead he picked while playing near his home in Jacksonville, Alabama, on May 31, 1976.
Brayden Bullard	4	male	Timber Rattlesnake	FL	2014	Bitten while planting watermelons in his backyard in Bryceville, Florida. He was rushed to the hospital, but died 2 weeks later.
Helen Moomey	4	female	Rattlesnake	ND	1915	Moomey died from a rattlesnake bite she received while playing with friends near her house in Billings County, North Dakota.  The prairie rattlesnake is the only venomous snake in North Dakota.

Of the young victims, all but one were bit by Rattlesnakes. Three-year-old Gregory Lee Hall passed away from a Copperhead snake bite in Alabama. However, most of these tragic occurrences took place in Texas and Florida. Three children died from a Rattlesnake bite in the Lone Star State, while three passed away from snakes in Florida.

As for the oldest victim, an 80-year-old man was killed in Armuchee, Georgia, when he ironically tried to avoid killing a Timber Rattlesnake he found in his garage. As he tried to move the snake with a broom, he fell on top of it. The resulting bite killed him after 30 hours and eight antivenom vials.

You can see the other oldest victims on the map when you group by “Age” and opt for the 80 – 64 range. Speaking of Texas, Florida, and Georgia, let’s move on to location—not just of the youngest or oldest victims—but every snake bite fatality on the map.

Florida, Texas, & Where Snakes Bite

Luckily for some (and not so much for others), venomous snakes aren’t found everywhere in the U.S. The majority of fatal snake bites occur in Texas, West Virginia, along with other southern states. However, Floridians deal with the most deadly bites. In total, 13 have been killed by snakes in the Sunshine State, including 11 Rattlesnakes, one coral snake, and one unknown.

Never too far behind Florida is, of course, Texas with 10 Rattlesnake bites and one cobra bite that ended in death. Joining Florida in the Southeast are West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama with seven fatal bites each. These states all have warm weather in common, which is when snakes become more active.

Similar insights often become apparent when you map your data—and especially when you enable Heat View, a feature BatchGeo Pro users have in common with some snakes.

Of course, snakes aren’t the only animal that can take down a human. We’ve mapped Every US Shark Attack Fatality Since 1900 for along with Bear Attack Statistics of North America.

Or make a Heat View map of your own at batchgeo.com.

Do you know that one friend who never stops talking about their favorite activity? That’s us with spreadsheets. Excel and Google Sheets are reliable ways to store data and their data analysis features seem never-ending.

But sometimes you need something more. Enter spreadsheet-database hybrids like Airtable, which pairs a spreadsheet with database column types along with calendar, gallery, Kanban, and other views. Essentially, Airtable is all about providing its users a variety of data visualization options… including maps.

So we’ll show you two different ways to turn your Airtable base’s geographical data into a visual map using Airtable’s Map app or our online mapping tool. Along the way, we’ll highlight the pros and cons of each method. Let’s get started.

1. Use Airtable’s Map App with a Google Maps API Key

As an Airtable user, you can use the spreadsheet-database hybrid’s own Map app to plot your base’s geographical points on a map. The benefits of doing this with Airtable’s app include remaining in the same platform as your data, without the need for a new tool. However, in order to create a map of your base, you need to have a working Google Maps API key.

If you don’t know what an API key is or you just want an easier way, skip to the second way to turn an Airtable base into a map.

With that in mind, let’s jump into the most important step of getting started with Airtable’s Map app.

Get Your Google Maps API Key

First off, you’ll want to grab your Google Maps API key. You can re-use the same one if this isn’t your first time setting up a map app. Otherwise, here are the basic steps to get a Google Maps API key:

1. Create a Google Cloud project
2. Enable billing for your project
3. Enable the Google Maps JavaScript and Geocoding APIs
4. Create a Google API key

Whew! It’s a lot of jumping through the Google interface, but you’ll only have to do this once. Unless your usage is very high, you’ll likely never be charged. However, Google makes you add a payment option.

You’ll need to keep that API key handy for when you set up the Map app in Airtable.

Set up the Airtable Map App

Now that you have your Google Maps API key, you’ll want to prepare your data and add the Map app so you can add your key. To do so:

1. In your Airtable base, add a single line text field for addresses or latitude and longitude coordinates
   1. Note: you’ll need to format your coordinates in either DMS (degrees, minutes, and seconds: 44° 27’ 37.72368″ – 110° 49’ 41.295″) or DD (decimal degrees: 44.4604788, -110.8281375)
2. You’ll also want to include an empty second single line text field for the Map app’s use. You can then hide this field because you don’t need to do anything with it
3. Next, click Apps located in the upper right-hand corner of your Airtable base
4. Select Add an app, search, and then add “Map”
5. Opt to Get started and enter your Google Maps API key
6. Determine the correct Table, View, Location field, and Geocode cache. Then, Save the settings

You can further customize your Airtable map by changing the marker color, size, and shape of your Airtable map, along with three map themes in Settings.

As with setting up the API key, there are quite a few steps to get your Airtable Map working. Let’s have a look at a simpler approach to getting your Airtable data on a Google Map.

2. API Key-Free Online Mapping Tool

Even the most devout Airtable user may not wish to go to the trouble of obtaining an API key and preparing your base to use the built-in Map app. So for an Airtable map alternative with no API key required, you can try our online mapping tool. And since we can skip the steps of adding an API key, we can get right into preparing your data and adding it to BatchGeo:

1. Just like the previous method, you’ll want to ensure any location information in your Airtable base has its own single line text fields
   1. The best formats for latitude and longitude coordinates include decimal degrees: 44.4604788, -110.8281375
2. Then, download your Airtable base as a CSV
3. Open your web browser and navigate to batchgeo.com
4. Drag and drop your downloaded file to the location data box, then click Map Your Data and watch as the geocoder performs its process
5. Check to make sure you have the proper location data fields available under “Validate and Set Options”
6. Select Show Advanced Options to customize marker labels, colors, shapes, and map styles
7. After any updates, click Make Map. When you’re done, Save & Continue

View Sales Map from Airtable Base in a full screen map

Unlike an Airtable Map, when mapping with BatchGeo, your additional data will be suggested for grouping, allowing you to sort any map by that data, such as Sales, Representative, Sale count, and Rev per sale from your Airtable base. Export your Airtable to CSV, then make your own groupable Airtable map today at batchgeo.com.