AmCharts 4: Maps

amCharts 4: Maps

Maps is an add-on to amCharts 4: Charts.

Use it to add interactive, stunning, geographical maps to your websites or applications. Just like any other chart.

 

 

 

Interactive maps...easily added

Just a few lines of code allow you to add full-fledged interactive maps to your web site or application. And, since it’s amCharts 4 you get all the integration features out of the box: type checking, modules, npm install, you name it.

 

Best of all, while it requires separate license, Maps still comes together with the main amCharts 4: Charts, be it downloadable ZIP file or npm. You don’t have to juggle packages. amCharts 4 family of products has all your data-viz needs covered, including geographical maps.

 

The map package

Lots of bundled maps to choose from

 

We’ve bundled hundreds of country and regional maps.

Need a country map? A map of Africa or Arkansas? Chances are we already have it.

And, to make it even sweeter, all maps are available in two versions: high and low detail.

 

Based on GeoJSON standard

 

For its functionality, amCharts 4 uses GeoJSON – an open mapping standard.

If a map exists it probably exists in GeoJSON format, or at least is easy to convert to.

 

Easy to make your own maps

 

We don’t have a map you need?

Since amCharts 4 uses GeoJSON chances are the map you need is just a search query away.

And, if you can’t find one in GeoJSON, there’s probably one available in ESRI shape format, which you can easily convert to GeoJSON – no software needed.

 

Series-based approach

Multi-type series

Everything on the maps is organized in “series”: areas/countries (polygons), markers (images), lines.

Makes it super easy to apply appearance settings or attach behavior to a bunch of elements at once.

Series-based approach allows easy structuring of elements, toggling, and other control.

It also allows specifying what exactly to include or exclude from GeoJSON. Do you want just a map of Europe? Simply specify country codes that you want to be included. A world map without Antarctica? Specify to exclude it from the map.

 

Combining multiple maps

 

Multi-series support also means you can combine multiple maps on the same chart.

Want to add U.S. states on the World map? No problem at all.

 

Line series

 

Map Chart’s line series allow adding basic or complex routing maps, connecting existing markers or arbitrary points.

As with anything else on amCharts 4, lines are fully configurable.

Make them straight, bent, or follow natural Earth ground curvature.

Add and position images on them, as well as make them follow relative rotation.

 

Useful functionality

Projections

 

amCharts 4 comes with support for a lot of map projections.

Projections allow displaying the same map in different ways.

The following projections are already supported with more planned: Eckert6, Equirectangular , Mercator, Miller, and Orthographic.

 

Coordinate shifting

 

The map is not constrained to be centered on a single point. You can set your own center coordinates, meaning you can create a map centered any way you like.

Easily create a Pacific-centered world map with just a single configuration option.

Or how about a rotating globe by combining coordinate shift with an Orthographic projection?

 

Heat maps

 

amCharts 4 brings a very powerful “heat rules” functionality, which you can use with maps as well.

Basically, you can bind most of the element’s properties to a numeric value. E.g. color fill of the countries, based on their fields in data, allowing you to create heat maps.

And, of course, you have a “heat legend” control as well.

 

Built-in controls

Zoom control

 

Just a single line of code adds neat control your users can use to zoom in and out the map.

Another line enables the slider.

All elements can be controlled using mouse, touch, and are accessible controls, enabling keyboard control.

 

Mini map

 

Another easily-enabled control shows “bird’s eye” view on the map.

It will mark the position of the current viewport on a tiny version of the whole map.

And, of course, it supports multiple map series, so it is as functional as the map itself – add mini versions of polygon, image, or line series there.

 

Heat legend

 

A heat legend allows automatically showing the “heat scale” of the map areas.

 

It takes the whole range of values and heat colors, then builds a value/color scale.

And, best of all, it can display an indicator of where a particular area is within the scale.

 

Licensing

As all our libraries, Maps is available completely free. We’ll just ask you to show a small branding link in return.

If, however, you’d like an unbranded chart, then you’ll need a commercial license. While Maps is an add-on to amCharts 4: Charts it still requires separate license.