The Cartography Of Geopolitical Chaos | Co.Design | business + design
▻http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031217/the-cartography-of-geopolitical-chaos?partner
Every map in some way reflects the biases of how its cartographer sees the world—enforcing the arbitrary notion that north should be at the top of the map, or skewing our perception of how big Africa really is. Sometimes, these cartographical biases even shape political borders.
Starting in 1885, the British (who colonized Burma) spent decades negotiating over the border between Burma, its colony, and Burma’s northern neighbor, China. The two countries’ very different approaches to cartography in the late 19th century played a role in shaping the border, according to new research from Eric Vanden Bussche, a Ph.D candidate in history at Stanford University.
–—
Stanford historian sees new perspectives on Chinese border disputes
▻http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/may/declassified-chinese-maps-052914.html
Chinese historical maps are a bit like gold for scholars. A limited number exist, and China’s government restricts access to many of those dealing with sensitive topics, like border disputes.
One collection of rare maps used in Sino-Burmese border negotiations during the 19th century was taken to Taiwan during the communist revolution of 1949. There the maps, declassified by the Taiwanese government in 2007, remained unnoticed in basement archives.
#cartographie #histoire #asie #chine #birmanie #visualisation
