Rank Country - Explore Mapped Demographic Data and More

 

Rank Country is a website that features datasets about education, healthcare, infrastructure, tourism, weather, and dozens of other topics. It is easy to browse the Rank Country data maps. Simply head to the site and open the "browse" menu in the upper, left corner of the page. That menu will reveal all of the data categories. Clicking on a category will reveal all of the datasets available within the category. Once you've selected a dataset it will appear on the map. Clicking on the map will reveal more information about the data as it relates to that location.

From my review of the sources that the Rank Country uses it appears that the bulk of the datasets come from The World Bank rankings. In some cases you'd be served just as well by heading directly to The World Bank's Open Data website. 

One curious aspect of Rank Country that might be worth noting is that the site doesn't contain any information about who built it or owns it. I performed a WHOIS look-up on the site and found that it is registered to company called Lil Robots whose website refers to them as "multi-channel marketers." 

Applications for Education
I generally find sites like Rank Country to be useful in helping students make connections between the names of countries that they're reading about and where those countries actually are in the world. These kind of sites can also be helpful in starting discussions about regions and or groups of countries. Beyond the geography of the countries a site like Rank Country can be helpful in getting students to make comparisons of countries based upon a particular set of economic or social data parameters.

H/T to Larry Ferlazzo. 

Cronobook - A Map of Historical Photographs

 

Cronobook is a new-to-me website that features a searchable map of historical photographs. The premise of the site is simple and using it is easy. Just head to the site, search for a location, and click on the small images to see them in full size. A little bit of information  including location and date is included with the images. 

Cronobook is still a beta product so that breadth of the imagery is fairly limited. You'll have better luck finding historical images if you stick to large cities as compared to small towns. It should also be noted that just because the images are old that doesn't mean they're not copyrighted. Check the image licensing before downloading any images from Cronobook. 

In a lot of ways Cronobook feels like a lightweight version Historypin. Depending on your perspective that could be a good thing or a bad thing. I like it because it's a little easier to use. 

Applications for Education
If you're a history teacher, Cronobook is one of those sites that is worth bookmarking and consulting when want to show students what a city looked like in the past. It could also be a good site for students to explore on their own to inspire some curiousity for learning more about the history of city or neighborhood within a city.

H/T to Maps Mania.