Cartograms are thematic maps where the size of geographic regions is scaled proportionally to a data variable rather than actual land area. They correct for the perceptual bias of standard choropleth maps where large-area regions visually dominate even when their data values are low. Three common methods are supported: contiguous (shape-preserving), Dorling (circles), and tile (equal-area grid).

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value
25460000
17960000
4430000
4230000
3730000
3090000
2940000
2080000
2170000
2140000

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "USA",
      "value": 25460000,
      "name": "United States"
    },
    {
      "id": "CHN",
      "value": 17960000,
      "name": "China"
    },
    {
      "id": "DEU",
      "value": 4430000,
      "name": "Germany"
    },
    {
      "id": "JPN",
      "value": 4230000,
      "name": "Japan"
    },
    {
      "id": "IND",
      "value": 3730000,
      "name": "India"
    },
    {
      "id": "GBR",
      "value": 3090000,
      "name": "United Kingdom"
    },
    {
      "id": "FRA",
      "value": 2940000,
      "name": "France"
    },
    {
      "id": "BRA",
      "value": 2080000,
      "name": "Brazil"
    },
    {
      "id": "ITA",
      "value": 2170000,
      "name": "Italy"
    },
    {
      "id": "CAN",
      "value": 2140000,
      "name": "Canada"
    },
    {
      "id": "KOR",
      "value": 1710000,
      "name": "South Korea"
    },
    {
      "id": "RUS",
      "value": 1780000,
      "name": "Russia"
    },
    {
      "id": "AUS",
      "value": 1690000,
      "name": "Australia"
    },
    {
      "id": "MEX",
      "value": 1270000,
      "name": "Mexico"
    },
    {
      "id": "ESP",
      "value": 1420000,
      "name": "Spain"
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "type": "cartogram",
      "idKey": "id",
      "valueKey": "value",
      "method": "contiguous"
    }
  ],
  "title": {
    "text": "World GDP Cartogram ($M)"
  }
}

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A contiguous (Gastner-Newman) cartogram resizes geographic regions proportionally to a data variable while maintaining topological adjacency. Countries with larger values appear physically larger on the map.

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