Thousands of other map-makers endorsed your choice of an easy, customized map tool. BatchGeo is highly-ranked in G2’s Annual Best Software Awards. The listing ranks the world’s best software companies and products based on reviews from real users. BatchGeo was a 2022 winner and customers have again provided the feedback to get us on the 2023 list of best Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

Not only did BatchGeo score in the top three of GIS software—we’re also the #1 highest performer in some of the most important categories, satisfaction and popularity.

Check out the best-ranked GIS software for yourself, or continue reading for an in-depth look at the rankings along with a demonstration of our winning software.

G2’s GIS Highest Performer in Satisfaction is BatchGeo

Many factors go into G2’s rankings. BatchGeo users helped it climb to the top of many of the categories. BatchGeo ranks #1 in popularity, but even more satisfying is also being #1 in satisfaction. That points to happy users who can quickly convert data into interactive maps.

You can see how BatchGeo ranks in this category or note its place to the far right in G2’s top GIS Software Grid.

Most gratifying is that the satisfaction rankings are based on reviews, in which real users reported that BatchGeo is:

“Excellent for a quick graphical analysis, with the ability for more in-depth analysis.“

Another user said:

“I have been using this product for a few years now. I like that it’s easy to copy and paste data from an Excel sheet and I like the color coded map… It is very easy to use and intuitive.“

With over 1,000 reviews that average 4.7 out of 5 stars, BatchGeo is the best-reviewed and most-reviewed of the bunch.

BatchGeo Scores Among G2’s Top GIS Software Overall

GIS is a broad category, which includes downloadable desktop software and tools that programmers use to create maps with code. BatchGeo achieves the highest satisfaction and popularity, and is listed among some huge players in the overall rankings, called the G2 Score.

Of the 261 GIS companies and products ranked, the G2 Score winners were:

1. Esri ArcGIS
2. Google Earth Pro
3. BatchGeo
4. Google Maps API
5. ArcGIS Online

BatchGeo is the only product in the top five that creates maps from spreadsheets and allows grouping and filtering based on your own data. In addition, BatchGeo outranks GIS software giants like Google Maps API and ArcGIS Online, plus 256 other tools.

G2 Score is a proprietary ranking algorithm, which takes into account many factors within real user reviews. The site also provides other sorting methods and scores. To be listed so high overall, BatchGeo performs well in many of these areas:

• Popular GIS software (#1)
• Highest satisfaction in GIS software (#1)
• Highest rated GIS software (#1)
• Best free GIS software (#1)
• Easiest to use GIS software (#2)
• Best overall GIS software (#3)

If you haven’t already given BatchGeo a try yourself, read on to walk through an example of how quickly you can map your own spreadsheet data.

G2’s GIS Satisfaction Winner HQs: Mapped

It’s an honor that BatchGeo customers ranked our mapping tool highly in so many categories. As we mentioned earlier, the satisfaction list is especially laudable, because it means BatchGeo users are happy with their experience. So, let’s take the data behind the top 20 G2 Satisfaction winners and map their company headquarters to show what’s possible with BatchGeo:

View G2’s GIS Satisfaction Winner HQs in a full screen map

All you need to make a custom map like the one above is some data and knowledge of copy and paste—no code required.

Here’s how we made it:

Whether your preferred platform is Excel, Google Sheets, or another option, start with a spreadsheet. We added the GIS companies that G2 ranked in the top 20 for Satisfaction with separate columns for each piece of information. Most important are columns for city, state, and country—or other location data.

From there, simply:

1. Select (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A) and copy (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C) your data
2. Open your web browser and navigate to batchgeo.com
3. Click on the location data box with the example data in it, then paste (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V) your own data
4. Check to make sure you have the proper location data columns available by clicking “Validate and Set Options”
5. Select the proper location column from each drop-down
6. Click “Make Map” and watch as the geocoder performs its process

Once mapped, trends you may have otherwise missed in “spreadsheet mode” become clearer. For example, we can see that of the top 20 GIS companies in Satisfaction, 13 are based in the U.S., including nine based in California, and two in Massachusetts.

Outside of the U.S., brands headquartered in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, India, Singapore, and Sweden also made it in the top 20 GIS companies.

There are plenty of insights waiting inside your own spreadsheets. Use our award-winning software to map your own data for free.

You’ve likely committed a crime. From jaywalking to failure to pay traffic tickets, petty crimes are more common than we think. These usually just result in a fine—unlike those on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The most violent criminals have committed multiple heinous acts. So how does their punishment differ from the rest? Of course, there are different prisons with varying levels of security, and then there are the lengths of prison time they’re sentenced to.

The longest prison sentence in the world is over 160 life sentences—yet as you’ll find out on the map, there are far more incarcerated for many, many years.

View Longest prison sentences in a full screen map

Prisoners Serving More than 30 Life Sentences

As of December 2022, 269 prisoners around the world have been sentenced to one or more life sentences. Assuming a life sentence means a sentence that lasts until death… how are multiple life sentences possible? The actual definition of a life sentence isn’t so cut and dry.

Those convicted of the most heinous crimes can be sentenced to multiple life sentences, including the following 10 who are all serving more than 30 life sentences.

• Terry Nichols – 161 life sentences
• Michael J. Devlin – 74
• Abdullah Barghouti – 67
• Brenton Tarrant – 52
• Gary Ridgway – 49
• Loi Khac Nguyen – 49
• Martin Bryant – 35
• Billy Joe Godfrey – 35
• Nikolas Cruz – 34
• Warren Troy Knoop – 32

All 10 of the prisoners noted above are serving more than 30 life sentences, though Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols holds the record for the most consecutive life sentences ever given to a single individual.

In 1995, Nichols was convicted of 161 counts of first-degree murder, first-degree arson, and conspiracy at the state level along with terrorism and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter in federal court. He is imprisoned in Colorado’s ADX Florence.

Along with Nichols, five of the 10 prisoners with the longest life sentences are U.S.-based: Michael J. Devlin (kidnapper), Gary Ridgway (serial killer), Loi Khac Nguyen (surviving perpetrator of the 1991 Good Guys siege), Billy Joe Godfrey (child sexual abuser), and Nikolas Cruz (Parkland mass shooter).

Meanwhile, Abdullah Barghouti of Palestine, Brenton Tarrant of New Zealand, Martin Bryant of Australia, and Warren Troy Knoop of South Africa were also sentenced to multiple life imprisonments.

Check out the rest of the prisoners with multiple life sentences on the map before moving on to more about the prisons that hold these individuals.

The Most U.S. Prisoners in for Life Are Held Here

With 269 prisoners incarcerated for life around the world, many places are needed to hold them. Of these, 133 prisoners are held in the U.S. in around 80 different correctional facilities. The 12 U.S. prisons included in the following table house at least two prisoners in it for life:

Prison	# of prisoners serving life sentences
ADX Florence	10
USP Terre Haute	3
WITSEC (Bureau of Prisons’ version of the Federal Witness Protection Program)	2
United States Penitentiary, Tucson	2
United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners	2
Red Onion State Prison	2
Potosi Correctional Center	2
Oregon State Penitentiary	2
Mule Creek State Prison	2
Federal Medical Center, Butner	2
Dodge Correctional Institution	2
California State Prison, Corcoran	2

We briefly mentioned ADX Florence before, in regards to housing Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols who is serving the most life sentences (161). Seeing as it’s also the facility of so many of these prisoners, let’s learn more about this Colorado supermax prison.

Officially the United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility, ADX Florence opened in 1994. As a supermax prison, it’s more secure than even maximum security facilities. This is because it’s technically a prison within a prison—or at least a unit within a prison.

ADX Florence is just one part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence (FCC Florence), which is situated on 49 acres of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the United States Penitentiary, Florence High, where Richard Lee McNair is serving 2 life sentences. Yet while ADX Florence seems to be common for prisoners sentenced to life, it’s far from the only facility that houses them, as you can see on the map.

And for more on this topic, see our maps depicting if Education’s Influence on Incarceration or World Homicide Data Visualizes “Hot Spots.”

Over 70% of our planet is covered by the ocean. The ecosystems living under the sea are immensely important for those of us above water, as they can help reduce the impacts of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to protect the most important ecosystems, they’re classified as marine protected areas (MPAs), which restricts human activity such as fishing.

In the U.S., the nearly 1,000 marine protected areas make up around 26% of the surrounding waters, including the Great Lakes. Marine protected areas vary widely in size, year established, and design, as you’ll see on the map below.

View Marine Protected Areas in a full screen map

Largest Marine Protected Areas: Papahanaumokuakea & More

If you add up all of the 979 U.S. marine protected areas, they total over 1,573,511 square miles. Of course, the 10 largest on the table below make up almost 95% of that.

Marine Protected Area Name	Area (square kilometers)
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument	1,515,720
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument	1,277,860
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Particularly Sensitive Sea Area	363,687
Marianas Trench Marine National Monument	248,517
Mariana Trench National Wildlife Refuge	205,562
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge	84,092
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge	79,933.1
National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa	35,373.7
Rose Atoll Marine National Monument	35,004.6
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge	18,396.6

Established in 2006, Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is the largest marine protected area in the U.S. Named for the Hawaiian creator goddess Papahānaumoku and her husband Wākea, Papahanaumokuakea is home to around 7,000 species. Among these include many endangered animals, such as the hawksbill sea turtle and Hawaiian monk seal, among others.

The monument and its surrounding waters span nearly 585,223 square miles—more than all of America’s state parks combined. It’s slightly larger than Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, approximately the size of Germany.

Within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is a 363,687 square kilometer Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, which is the third-largest MPA on the list above. This serves as an additional layer of protection for the important marine resource.

Moreso than this single large monument in Hawaii, the Pacific Remote Islands are home to four large marine protected areas. The largest of these (and the second-largest in the entire U.S.) is the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, which is nearly twice the size of Texas.

While the largest area for individual MPAs is interesting, you may have noticed something else on the map: some areas have considerably more MPAs than others.

The Most U.S. MPAs Are in Florida

Hawaii and the Pacific Remote Islands may be home to the largest marine protected areas, but are they where the most are located? The following list contains the U.S. states with more marine protected areas than any other.

• Florida – 216 marine protected areas
• California – 196
• Washington – 64
• North Carolina – 44
• Puerto Rico – 37
• Oregon – 32
• Hawaii – 30
• Virginia – 28
• New Jersey – 26
• New York – 25

Florida may not be the largest state nor the most populous. What the Sunshine State does have is the most marine protected areas in the country. Altogether, Florida’s MPAs are made up of 60 state parks, 35 aquatic preserves, and 27 wildlife management areas, among others.

The largest of Florida’s MPAs is the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at 9901.11 square kilometers. The 6253.26 square-kilometer Everglades National Park is the second-biggest MPA in Florida.

Meanwhile, Florida’s oldest marine protected areas include Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (1903), which is also the oldest MPA out of the 979 in the U.S. Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge (1905) is the next oldest in FL, though another state’s national wildlife refuge is older, as we’ll see when we dive further into the age of these marine protected areas.

Oldest Year Established

As we mentioned, the first marine protected area in the U.S. was established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The name of the 21.9905 square kilometer MPA, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, comes from the Brown pelicans the refuge houses. Let’s look at the other oldest MPAs:

Marine Protected Area Name	State	Year Established
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge	FL	1903
Breton National Wildlife Refuge	LA	1904
Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge	FL	1905
Huron National Wildlife Refuge	MI	1905
Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge	LA	1907
Key West National Wildlife Refuge	FL	1908
Pine Island National Wildlife Refuge	FL	1908
Matlacha Pass National Wildlife Refuge	FL	1908
Island Bay National Wildlife Refuge	FL	1908
Robert Moses State Park – Long Island	NY	1908

Joining Pelican Island among Florida’s oldest include previously discussed Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge, along with four more, all established in the same year.

Louisiana’s 113.803 square kilometer Breton National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1904, making it the second oldest, along with the much smaller Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge (0.015896 square kilometers) in 1907. Notably, Huron National Wildlife Refuge is the first marine protected area in the Great Lakes.

Don’t forget to group the map by Design to see which of the 979 marine protected areas are national wildlife refuges, state parks, aquatic preserves, and more, along with Fishing Restrictions.

For more maps about ocean and land conservation, visit Endangered Animals on a Map.