Category: ZIPScribble Maps

The idea behind the ZIPScribble Map is simple: Connect all the ZIP or postal codes in a country in ascending order. Does that produce chaos or some kind of pattern? Use this interactive map to explore.

• Pan and zoom using the mouse and your scroll wheel or scroll gesture on OS X.
• Switch to fullscreen by clicking the little arrow widget on the top right.
• Look at different countries using the drop-down list in the lower right.
• Turn the map on and off. The map can be interesting to figure out where some structure is, but the scribble pattern is actually much more interesting without a background.
• Turn state coloring on and off. This is for countries where the data contains state or province information. Coloring the states differently shows how the patterns line up with state boundaries and helps focus on structures that are natural boundaries, like mountain ranges and large rivers.
• Link to a particular country or place. The URL reflects your current view, including the country you’ve selected and the location and zoom of the map. If you want to share a particular view, copy the entire URL. If you want a generic view of a country, only include the two-letter country code after the hash symbol. The page also remembers the last country you looked at (but a specific link overrides that).

Built using Polymaps. The source code for this page is available on github.

Switzerland is known for its mountains, and you can see that quite well on this map, especially in the middle to southern areas. Especially impressive is the canton of Uri (UR), which is one long valley; this is very nicely visible on this map. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Switzerland

When my girlfriend saw this image, she immediately commented how Sweden looked like a stiletto boot, more elegant than even Italy. Wow, big controversy potential there, but I think I’d rather stay out of this one. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Sweden

Spain has an interesting internal structure in terms of postal codes. Rather than a lot of chaotic scribble, many of the lines do not cross over, a bit like on the Travelling Presidential Candidate Map. The only excaption is Galicia (GA), with its very dense scribble structure. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Spain

The climate in Norway makes the coastal areas and the more southern parts more appealing to live. That data also looks much better than the middle to nortern parts. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Norway

Though one of the most densely populated countries, the Netherlands do not appear overcrowded in terms of postal codes. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: The Netherlands

The original boot with Sicily as its football, Italy certainly has one of the most distinct shapes. Its scribble structure is somewhat more organized than some countries, but not as regular as Spain or Hungary. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Italy

Budapest, Hungary‘s capital, is missing from the map, and the data does not appear to be complete. The structures are quite tidy, and look like a cleaner (and smaller) version of Spain. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Hungary

Of course, Stefan Zeiger already beat me to the punch on this one. However, only EagerEyes.org offers you a printable version, a country outline, and the original ZIPScribble flavor. The structure within Berlin (BE) is interesting particularly. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: Germany

The French are known for their beaurocracy, and the map seems to be an expression of that. Inside each région, there are several clusters for the départements, neatly separated. Smaller departments are often thrown together with larger ones, though, and inside each cluster is a nice bit of scribble chaos to make things more interesting. To the south-east, you can see the Mediterranean island Corsica. Continue reading ZIPScribble Map: France