SVG Map

An SVG map is a geographic visualization rendered using the Scalable Vector Graphics format, a W3C web standard for describing two-dimensional vector graphics in XML. Because SVG elements are part of the Document Object Model (DOM), they can be styled with CSS, animated with JavaScript, and made interactive with event listeners—making SVG a natural choice for thematic web maps, especially those with relatively few features. D3.js is the most popular library for generating SVG maps from GeoJSONGeoJSONGeoJSON is an open standard format for encoding geographic data structures using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). I... data. It handles map projections, path rendering, color scaling, and interaction in a highly customizable way. SVG maps are commonly used for choropleth maps of countries or states, election dashboards, and infographic-style maps in news media. Because each geographic shape is a discrete DOM element, developers can easily attach tooltips, click handlers, and transitions to individual features. SVG maps excel at resolution independence: they look crisp at any zoom levelZoom LevelA zoom level is a discrete scale step in a web mapping tile system that determines the amount of geographic detail di... or print resolution. However, they have performance limitations with very large datasets because each rendered element adds to the DOM. For maps with thousands of points or complex geometries, Canvas or WebGLWebGLWeb Graphics Library (WebGL) is a cutting-edge web technology that brings high-performance 3D and 2D graphics renderi... rendering is more performant. Accessibility is a strength of SVG, as elements can carry ARIA labels and title attributes that screen readers can interpret, making SVG maps more accessible than canvas-based alternatives.