download:
.JPG (19000x11000, 23.1 MB)

Doing research on railway construction in the nineteenth century, I found myself lacking a good reference map. My map of world railways soon became a convenient way to try out some ideas for a general wall map of the world.

Notice the different relationships between railways and agricultural land. In the Americas, rail was the primary route by which crops reached global markets, and railways and settlement often went hand in hand. But in Russia, China, or Africa, railways are much more associated with mining or manufacturing. This map shows at a glance the distinction between "labor-poor" and "capital-poor" regions.


This is version 2, with updated railways and land cover and a MUCH larger version for download.