WikiHistoricalMap

This is a **proposal for a new** Wikimedia sister project.
WikiHistoricalMap
Status of the proposal
Status	under discussion
Details of the proposal
Project description	Create an open historical interactive map of the world, base on wikipedia articles and the map api.
Potential number of languages	Many languages will be supported
Technical requirements
New features to require	Yes, see below
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Concept

The idea is to create an open, interactive historical map of the world, drawing from Wikipedia articles and a mapping API. I have a well-developed prototype, which can be explored at http://chronocon.org

The interactive map divides the screen into two main areas: the map itself and an event area. We believe it's crucial to provide more than just a map; many people may not have an in-depth knowledge of history and need context to navigate. Therefore, our goal is to facilitate user navigation through historical events.

This map incorporates an additional 'time' dimension. Users can traverse through time, and as they do, the map and events will change to reflect the current date.

Objects

On the map, you'll find various objects. These objects can appear, disappear, change shape, or shift their location based on the date. Users can obtain information about an object by clicking on it or hovering the mouse over it. We do not intend to include every single town or river; for a comprehensive history of humanity, several thousand main objects should suffice. However, we can incrementally increase the level of detail.

The object's description can be automatically retrieved from Wikipedia through a link. The goal is to present this information seamlessly, so the user can easily access details about any object without leaving the map interface.

Events

On the left side of the screen, we display events. Each event has a brief description, a full description, and a map marker. Each event corresponds to a specific date. This limitation is intentional to keep the interface user-friendly. Similar to objects, event descriptions can be automatically sourced from Wikipedia through a link.

Event Chains

The concept of "event chains" is crucial. With numerous events on the map, it can be overwhelming to read them chronologically. Events should be organized into chains.

These chains can be categorized by various principles. For instance, they can be organized geographically, such as "History of Germany," or thematically, such as "History of Science" or "History of Religion." Alternatively, events can be presented from different perspectives, such as "Korean War from the perspective of North Korea" and "Korean War from the perspective of South Korea." Users can navigate through events chronologically or within a specific chain, allowing for flexible exploration.

Users can choose a chain to read events one by one or delve deeper by reading a full article about a particular event, then easily return to the chain. These 'chains' can be linked to existing Wikipedia pages, and special service pages can be created for this purpose, containing lists of events with brief descriptions and links to full articles.

Not necessary to create the whole map at once

Creating interactive maps for all of history at once is an enormous undertaking. Therefore, we propose creating maps for different time periods separately and subsequently merging them. Different time periods may require different time intervals, and it's not essential to have a one-year time step for ancient history periods.

We envision the map's scalability in several directions:

Adding new historical periods.
Including new objects in existing periods.
Introducing new event chains to existing periods.
Adjusting the time step (although this may require technical development).
Incrementally improving accuracy.

To start, we suggest something simple, like a map of the 20th century with a one-year time step, as most borders from that period are well-documented.

Fully Aligned with Wikipedia Values

Our concept aligns with Wikipedia's core values:

It promotes knowledge and curiosity.
It is freely accessible and editable, adhering to open-source principles.
It supports diversity through multi-language support and by presenting history from various regional and cultural perspectives.

Required Changes

To bring this concept to life, certain changes are necessary:

Design: We propose aligning the design with Wikipedia's familiar interface, and we're open to improving navigation for users.
Integration with Wikipedia Pages: We intend to integrate with existing Wikipedia content through their API.
Integration with Wikipedia Authorization for Editors: Editors should have seamless access to Wikipedia's authorization process.
Choice of Mapping API: We suggest considering OSM APIs as an alternative to Google Maps, given Wikipedia's existing use of OSM.
Collaboration Tools: Although not initially required, we aim to improve tools for shared editing. Currently, all map changes are saved, and simple conflict resolution strategies are in place.
Coding Standards: We'll adhere to Wikipedia's coding guidelines and technologies.

Project value

We acknowledge that this project presents challenges, but each step is well-defined and achievable. A global interactive historical map holds immense educational potential, offering a fresh approach to studying history, fostering better context comprehension, and providing a holistic view of historical events. An interactive map has the power to connect historical events, uniting them into an integrated learning space.

To better grasp the concept, please explore our prototype at http://chronocon.org. While it began as a separate project, I lack the resources to create content and distribute it, making integration with Wikipedia an appealing proposition.

P.S I've noticed that a similar concept was proposed quite some time ago here Wikihistorymap.

However, I have a more concrete proposal and a well-developed prototype, so decided to create a new page

Comments

I'm in favor of an idea like this, however I believe this could be accomplish, if not fully to an acceptable degree, via Wikidata and it's query service, which does allow mapping to geocoords, such as this search for all items of a particular region https://w.wiki/8s$T

Ideally this would be a wikiproject to help keep the relevant maps to quality. Akaibu (talk) 23:40, 22 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Support It would be a visaulized map which shows what happened in the history. I suggest that you should add more dimensions such as topics, era, or scale. We can put historic events from different topic in those maps. You can set up different layers for each topic. And in each scale, you can see different side of a event, including global and local perspectives. It's a good idea anyway.

Support A historical map where you can look at a year like 1942 and see where battles happened sounds awesome. 4.39.220.106 14:56, 30 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Support I'm kind of surprised there isn't a big website like this already. One hosted by the WMF seems like a great idea. Benpiano800 (talk) 21:17, 1 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Strong support what a good idea! --Zemxer (talk) 19:17, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]