# Moving Polygons

> Visualize how regions, territories, and borders transform over time with animated polygon maps.

## Overview

Moving Polygons is a web application that allows users to create, edit, and share animated maps showing geographic changes over time. Users can draw polygons on a map, assign timestamps to different versions, and watch smooth animations as territories morph between states.

## Features

- **Interactive Map Editor**: Draw polygons directly on a Mapbox-powered map
- **Timeline Animation**: Smooth morphing between polygon states with playback controls
- **Publishing**: Share maps publicly with unique URLs (/map/:username/:slug)
- **Embedding**: Published maps can be embedded on external websites
- **Community Library**: Browse, search, and copy timelines from other users' maps
- **Import**: Dashboard → Import loads a map from a .json file

## Making maps with an AI assistant

Moving Polygons offers a free Agent Skill (https://t3s0o0sophe9ewqv.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/skills/moving-polygons-map.zip) for Claude and other AI assistants that can run Python. Given an idea such as "the Battle of Austerlitz", the assistant researches it, builds the borders from Cliopatria and Natural Earth data, validates the result and returns an import .json plus a preview image. The user imports the file via Dashboard → Import. Setup instructions: https://www.movingpolygons.com/create-with-ai

## MCP server

A remote MCP server at https://www.movingpolygons.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP; OAuth sign-in with a Moving Polygons account, asked only when an account tool is first used) lets Claude and other MCP clients create maps in the user's account, list and read their maps, replace a map's content, and publish or unpublish. Tools: get_import_format, get_account, list_maps, get_map, create_map, create_upload_link (curl upload for large files), start_map_upload, upload_map_part and finish_map_upload (large files sent in parts when curl cannot reach the site), replace_map_content, publish_map, unpublish_map, plus search_maps and get_public_map. Setup: https://www.movingpolygons.com/create-with-ai#connect

search_maps, get_public_map and get_import_format work without signing in. https://www.movingpolygons.com/mcp/public serves only the public tools and never asks for sign-in. The read-only tools for finding published maps: search_maps (by topic, place or period) and get_public_map (timeline, layers, events, embed code).

## URL Structure

- / - Homepage with featured maps
- /explore - Browse all published maps
- /how-it-works - How Moving Polygons works (step-by-step guide)
- /create-with-ai - Make maps with Claude or another AI assistant (download the skill)
- /blog - Articles on the history behind the published maps, plus product updates
- /blog/:slug - One article; map articles embed the interactive map
- /llms-full.txt - Full text of every blog article, for LLMs
- /map/:username/:slug - Public map view (interactive, animated)
- /map/:username/:slug.md - The same map as Markdown: description, keyframe timeline, layers and events
- /embed/:username/:slug - Embeddable map view
- /profile/:username - Creator profile with published maps
- /pricing - Subscription plans
- /contact - Contact form
- /privacy - Privacy policy
- /terms - Terms of service
- /cookies - Cookie policy

## Published Maps

- [The Northern Wars of the Witcher Saga, 1239–1268](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-northern-wars-of-the-witcher-saga-12391268) by chrisjager - Nilfgaard against the Northern Kingdoms in Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher novels: Ebbing 1239, the fall of Cintra and the battles of Sodden 1263, the Second War from the Thanedd coup to Brenna and the Peace of Cintra, 1267–68. Moving blocks are armies. Unofficial fan map on an original basemap; not endorsed by Andrzej Sapkowski or CD PROJEKT RED. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-northern-wars-of-the-witcher-saga-12391268.md
- [Middle-earth: from The Hobbit to the Grey Havens (TA 2941–3021)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/middle-earth-from-the-hobbit-to-the-grey-havens-ta-29413021) by chrisjager - The journeys and wars of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings on an ink map of Middle-earth, after Tolkien's books (not the films): Thorin and Company and the Battle of Five Armies (2941), the long years in between, then the Fellowship of the Ring, the War of the Ring in Rohan, Gondor, Mordor and the North, the Scouring of the Shire, and the Ring-bearers sailing West from the Grey Havens (3021). Every company and army slides along its route between the dated stops of Appendix B (The Tale of Years) and the chapters; the realms are a pale wash. Dates are Shire Reckoning as Tolkien prints them; in-between days are reconstructed. Sources: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, Unfinished Tales; Tolkien Gateway; the LotR Project timeline. A non-commercial fan map: Middle-earth © The Tolkien Estate; map data ME-GIS (ME-DEM project). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/middle-earth-from-the-hobbit-to-the-grey-havens-ta-29413021.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/middle-earth-the-hobbit-to-the-grey-havens
- [How the Netherlands Rose from the Sea, 500 BC–2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/how-the-netherlands-rose-from-the-sea-500-bc2026) by chrisjager - Grey = water, white = land of the time. Today's land won from the water: green <1250, yellow 1250–1600, orange 1600–1850, red 1850–1950, purple >1950. After Vos's paleogeographic maps (Deltares/RCE); 1953 flood extent after Lencer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/how-the-netherlands-rose-from-the-sea-500-bc2026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/netherlands-land-reclamation-history-map-500-bc-2026
- [The Scramble for Africa, 1870–1914](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-scramble-for-africa-18701914) by chrisjager - Africa's partition and the African states it overran. Dark: land a power actually controlled; light wash: what it claimed by treaty. African states keep their own colours until conquered. Control extents are estimates. Sources: Pakenham; Cambridge History of Africa; Hertslet; Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-scramble-for-africa-18701914.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/scramble-for-africa-map-1870-1914
- [The Mongol Empire, 1206–1368](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-mongol-empire-12061368) by chrisjager - Temüjin's rise, the largest land empire in history and its split into four khanates: Yuan (brick red), Golden Horde (gold), Chagatai (green), Ilkhanate (blue). Light tints = tributaries; greys and olives = independent neighbours; arrows = campaigns. Sources: Atwood, May, Cambridge History of China 6, Allsen. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-mongol-empire-12061368.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/mongol-empire-map-1206-1368
- [The Sengoku period: the unification of Japan, 1560–1615](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-sengoku-period-the-unification-of-japan-15601615) by chrisjager - Fifty-five years of the Warring States period, from Okehazama (1560) to the fall of Osaka Castle (1615): how Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu forced a realm of rival daimyō into one. Each colour is a clan's domain, province by province and district by district; paler red = Oda allies and generals, pale gold = lords under Toyotomi rule, grey = smaller lords, leagues and temples. In 1600 the map splits into Ieyasu's Eastern army (light blue) and the Western army (wine red). The stitched tokens are the armies of the great campaigns. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-sengoku-period-the-unification-of-japan-15601615.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/sengoku-period-unification-of-japan-map-1560-1615
- [The spread of the Asian hornet across Europe, 2004–2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-spread-of-the-asian-hornet-across-europe-20042026) by chrisjager - Where the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, Vespa velutina, was first recorded, coloured by year: dark purple 2004 to yellow 2026. Painted within 25 km of repeated records; one-off finds are pins. Data: GBIF.org (Oct 2026), MNHN, GOV.UK, published first records. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-spread-of-the-asian-hornet-across-europe-20042026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/asian-hornet-spread-europe-map-2004-2026
- [The Dance of the Dragons, 129–131 AC](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-dance-of-the-dragons-129131-ac) by chrisjager - The Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war of George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood: the Greens of King Aegon II (green) against the Blacks of Queen Rhaenyra (charcoal), 129–131 AC. Dragons fly as dragon tokens, armies march as discs, fleets sail as ships; pins mark battles and deaths. Coloured land shows who held it, bare cloth is neutral; teal is the Ironborn, gold the realm reunited under Aegon III. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-dance-of-the-dragons-129131-ac.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/dance-of-the-dragons-map-fire-and-blood-129-131-ac
- [From Serbia to Yugoslavia and back, 1804–today](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/from-serbia-to-yugoslavia-and-back-1804today) by chrisjager - How the lands of the South Slavs moved from Ottoman and Habsburg rule to an independent Serbia, then to Yugoslavia, and finally to the seven states of today. The map starts with the First Serbian Uprising of 1804, follows Serbia's autonomy (1815–30), independence (1878) and expansion in the Balkan Wars (1912–13), the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918), the Axis partition of 1941, socialist Yugoslavia (1945–91), and its break-up from 1991. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/from-serbia-to-yugoslavia-and-back-1804today.md
- [The Wars of Game of Thrones, Seasons 1–8](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-wars-of-game-of-thrones-seasons-1-8) by chrisjager - The wars of HBO's Game of Thrones, seasons 1 to 8, told through the armies on the move: Robb Stark's march south and the Red Wedding, the five kings, the Ironborn in the North, Stannis at the Blackwater and in the snow before Winterfell, Daenerys's road through the Dothraki Sea, Qarth, Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, the wildlings and the Night's Watch at the Wall, and the long march of the dead. Each commander is a token that slides along a dated route with a trail behind it (circles march, lenses sail, darts fly); fleets keep to the sea. The coloured land is in the background: small pieces around the castles and towns, coloured by the side that held them, with neutral land left as bare cloth. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-wars-of-game-of-thrones-seasons-1-8.md
- [Orange versus the Sun King · The 1672 Disaster Year and the duel of William III & Louis XIV](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/orange-versus-the-sun-king-the-1672-disaster-year-and-the-duel-of-william-iii-louis-xiv) by chrisjager - The Disaster Year (Rampjaar) of 1672 and the forty-year struggle it started between William III of Orange and Louis XIV — from William's birth in 1650 to Louis's death in 1715. The arc follows Luc Panhuysen's 'Oranje tegen de Zonnekoning' (2016): Louis's personal rule and the War of Devolution, the joint French, English, Münster and Cologne attack of 1672, the flooded Water Line and the murder of the De Witts, the coalition wars, the Glorious Revolution that made William king of England, Scotland and Ireland, the Nine Years' War and the Spanish succession. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/orange-versus-the-sun-king-the-1672-disaster-year-and-the-duel-of-william-iii-louis-xiv.md
- [Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries, 1581–1648](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/eighty-years-war-in-the-low-countries-15811648) by chrisjager - The Dutch Revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule, from the Act of Abjuration (Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, 26 July 1581) to the Peace of Münster (1648), shown only for the Low Countries and their immediate borderlands in France and western Germany. The Thirty Years' War in Germany is deliberately left out; German places appear only where the Dutch-Spanish war itself was fought (Lingen, Rheinberg, Wesel, Schenkenschans, Jülich). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/eighty-years-war-in-the-low-countries-15811648.md
- [The Dutch Colonial World, 1588–today](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-dutch-colonial-world-1588today) by chrisjager - The Dutch overseas world from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (1588) to the Kingdom of the Netherlands today. Orange = Dutch-held land (VOC, WIC, state). Lighter orange = the Boer republics founded by Dutch-descended settlers, and Luxembourg in personal union. When land changes hands it briefly takes the new ruler’s colour (red Britain, blue France, green Portugal, teal Koxinga, purple Japan, magenta Indonesia, light blue UN, dark green Suriname, black Belgium) before fading out. Blue pins are voyages of exploration, dark red pins failed expeditions and disasters, small brown dots trading posts. Borders are approximations drawn on modern Natural Earth boundaries; trading forts are shown as small circles. Sources: Natural Earth; general histories of the VOC/WIC (e.g. Gaastra, Den Heijer, Boxer). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-dutch-colonial-world-1588today.md
- [Europe's Forests, 1400–2025](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/europes-forests-14002025) by chrisjager - Where Europe's forests stood around 1400, where they were cleared, and what grew back. Colours show forest type; rust shows land that was forest in 1400 and has since been cleared, pale wool shows land whose natural forest was already gone before 1400. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/europes-forests-14002025.md
- [Dutch cities grow, 1300–2025](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/dutch-cities-grow-13002025) by chrisjager - How the towns and cities of the Netherlands spread across the land, from the walled towns of 1300 to the sprawling urban regions of today. Colours show when each part of a town was built: dark red for the medieval core, through orange to pale yellow for the districts of the last 30 years. Grey-violet marks ports, heavy industry and Schiphol. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/dutch-cities-grow-13002025.md
- [Where elephants and mammoths lived, 21,000 years ago to today](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/where-elephants-and-mammoths-lived-21000-years-ago-to-today) by chrisjager - Where elephants and their mammoth cousins lived in the wild, from the peak of the last Ice Age (~21,000 years ago) to today. Colours show species; white shows the ice sheets. During the Ice Age, sea level was ~120 m lower, so some ranges extend over what was then dry land (the Bering land bridge, the North Sea, the Sunda Shelf). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/where-elephants-and-mammoths-lived-21000-years-ago-to-today.md
- [Wijn, bier of wodka? Europa 1800–heden](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/wijn-bier-of-wodka-europa-1800heden) by chrisjager - Welke drank domineert per land, 1800 tot heden? Rood = wijn, geel = bier, blauw = sterkedrank (wodka, jenever, akvavit/brandewijn, rakija). Kleur = de drank met het grootste aandeel in de geconsumeerde pure alcohol. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/wijn-bier-of-wodka-europa-1800heden.md
- [The Wars of the Roses, 1455–1487](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-wars-of-the-roses-14551487) by chrisjager - Thirty years of civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York, told through the moving armies. Every march, landing, flight and battle from the First Battle of St Albans (1455) to Stoke Field (1487) is followed day by day where the chronicles allow it: 1470, 1471 and 1485 have near-daily itineraries, and in 1471 even the hours are known. Each army is a stitched token that slides along its route, with the road it took behind it; hover a token to see whose army it is. Between dated stops the roads are reconstructed along Roman roads and the Great North Road. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-wars-of-the-roses-14551487.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/tapestry-map-style
- [Gelre and Gelderland, AD 100–2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/gelre-and-gelderland-ad-1002026) by chrisjager - How Gelderland took shape. The story starts on the Roman Rhine frontier, with the Franks, Frisians and Saxons and the Frankish gouwen. A small county named after Geldern on the Niers grew north across the Rhine: Zutphen (c. 1138), the Veluwe (1182) and Nijmegen (1247–48) made the Duchy of Guelders and its four quarters. Charles of Egmond held out against Burgundy and Habsburg and for a time ruled Groningen, Drenthe, much of Friesland and Utrecht, while his marshal Maarten van Rossum sacked The Hague (1528) and marched on Antwerp and Leuven (1542). In 1543 Guelders passed to Charles V. The Revolt split it: the three lower quarters became a province of the Dutch Republic, Upper Guelders stayed Spanish and was divided in 1713, and Geldern itself is German today. The Disaster Year 1672, the French period, the border treaty with Prussia (1816–17), the battles of 1944–45, Elten (1949–63) and the 1986 border change at Asperen bring it to the present province. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/gelre-and-gelderland-ad-1002026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/gelre-and-gelderland-ad-100-2026
- [Brabant Through Time: Tribes, Duchy and Provinces (57 BC – 2026)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/brabant-through-time-tribes-duchy-and-provinces-57-bc-2026) by chrisjager - Brabant has been three different things under one name: a Frankish pagus between the Scheldt and the Dijle, a duchy (1183–1795) that reached from Nivelles to 's-Hertogenbosch, and since 1815 a set of provinces in two countries: Noord-Brabant, Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Brussels. The map follows its pieces (districts and quarters, later arrondissements) from the Nervii and the counts of Leuven through Burgundy, the Habsburgs, the Dutch Revolt and the split of 1648, the French départements and the Belgian Revolution to the three-way split of 1995. Colours show who ruled each piece: brick red the dukes of Brabant, purple Burgundy, gold Habsburg and Austria, green Spain, orange the Dutch States and the Netherlands, blue France, crimson the United Belgian States and Belgium. Neighbours are pale. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/brabant-through-time-tribes-duchy-and-provinces-57-bc-2026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/brabant-through-time-57-bc-2026
- [Friesland Through the Ages (12 BC – 2019)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/friesland-through-the-ages-12-bc-2019) by chrisjager - Two thousand years of Friesland and the Frisian coast: the Roman-era Frisii, the Frisian kingdom of Radbod and its defeat by the Franks, Viking rule, the 'Frisian Freedom' without a lord, the Saxon takeover of 1498, the Guelders wars of Grutte Pier and Charles of Egmond (1514–1524), the Habsburg lordship, the Republic, the French years and the modern province. The blue-grey wash shows sea and lakes of the time where there is land today: the Middelzee, the growing Zuiderzee, the Lauwerszee. Borders before 1500 are approximate (tribal areas, Frisia Magna, the three Frisian lands); the Guelders–Habsburg front of 1515–1523 is a reconstruction by grietenij and town from the chronicles; later borders follow the 30 grietenijen and 11 cities. Sources: paleogeographic maps of Vos et al. (RCE/Deltares, CC BY 4.0); HALC 1500 parish atlas; NLGIS municipal boundaries (Boonstra, CC0); BKG VG250; Wikipedia (Frisian Kingdom, Radbod, Lex Frisionum, Rorik, Battle of Warns, Pier Gerlofs Donia, Wijerd Jelckama, Gelderse Oorlogen, Lordship of Frisia, Frise department); Worp van Thabor via toenentoen.nl; De Langen & Mol, De Vrije Fries 100 (2020). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/friesland-through-the-ages-12-bc-2019.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/friesland-through-the-ages-12-bc-2019
- [Sea ice at its extremes, 1979–2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/sea-ice-at-its-extremes-19792026) by chrisjager - Every winter the seas around the poles freeze, and every summer they thaw again. This map shows both ice caps at their extremes in every year of the satellite record, 1979–2026, as two polar discs side by side: the Arctic on the left, the Antarctic on the right. Each frame is one year: for each pole the winter maximum (blue) and, inside it, the summer minimum (white), each on its own date. The blue band between them is the ice that comes and goes with the seasons. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/sea-ice-at-its-extremes-19792026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/arctic-antarctic-sea-ice-map-1979-2026
- [The Making of the United States, 1492–2025: Native Nations and Colonial Powers](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-making-of-the-united-states-14922025-native-nations-and-colonial-powers) by chrisjager - Five centuries of North America in one animation: from a continent held wall to wall by Native nations, through the Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Swedish and Russian footholds, to the United States, Canada and Mexico of today. The colours show who really held the ground: a Native nation until its land was settled, conquered or signed away by treaty; a colonial power only around its towns, forts and missions and on land it had taken. The ribbons are the borders the powers claimed on paper: New Spain, New France and Louisiana, New Netherland, New Sweden, the British colonies and Rupert's Land, Russian America, and the United States from 1776. Watch the Dutch on the Hudson (1624–1664, and once more in 1673–74), the fall of Huronia, the Pueblo Revolt, the Proclamation Line, the treaty cessions rolling west from 1784, the removals to Indian Territory, and the reservations that remain. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-making-of-the-united-states-14922025-native-nations-and-colonial-powers.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/making-of-the-united-states-1492-2025
- [Ebola (Bundibugyo) in DR Congo, 2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/ebola-bundibugyo-in-dr-congo-2026) by chrisjager - How the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak spread through the health zones of eastern and northern DR Congo: from three zones in Ituri in mid-May to 65 zones in seven provinces by mid-October, with exported cases in Uganda and Kenya. Each health zone (zone de santé, the unit DRC's health system reports by) is coloured by the month of its first confirmed case: red May, orange June, yellow July, green August, teal September, cyan October. Grey: the zones of an affected province that have no confirmed case (yet). Circles mark Uganda's 20 confirmed cases in Kampala (May–June; declared over on 28 July) and Kenya's single imported case in Nairobi (October); the line traces that traveller's route from Buta via Kisangani, Beni and Kampala. The bar counts confirmed deaths in DRC. Simplifications: confirmed cases only, no probable or suspected cases. A zone is coloured from the first date a source lists it as affected, and appears at the next keyframe; keyframes follow the weekly WHO situation reports, so dates are rounded to the sitrep week. Zone boundaries are OpenStreetMap's (2021). The newest zone, Dakwa (first case 8 October), is not in that boundary data and is drawn as Ango zone, which WHO shades on its map. Cases evacuated to Germany, France and the Netherlands appear only in the event notes. Sources: WHO AFRO weekly external situation reports 1–22 and WHO Disease Outbreak News; DRC Ministry of Health / INSP daily situation reports 1–151; ECDC; UKHSA "Outbreaks under monitoring"; Wikipedia. Health zones: OpenStreetMap RDC zones de santé via HDX (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), provinces from GRID3 COD Health Zones v9.0 (CC BY). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/ebola-bundibugyo-in-dr-congo-2026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/ebola-outbreak-dr-congo-2026-map
- [Spanish and Portuguese America, 1492–1826](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/spanish-and-portuguese-america-14921826) by chrisjager - From Columbus's first landfall to the surrender of the last Spanish garrisons at Callao and Chiloé: how Spain and Portugal conquered Middle and South America, and how their empires broke up into new states. The Aztec and Inca empires fall within fifteen years of each other; silver towns, missions and cattle ranches then push the frontier outward for three centuries, while the Dutch, French and English take islands and coasts. Bourbon Spain splits Peru into three viceroyalties; after 1808 juntas, royalist reconquests and the campaigns of Bolívar and San Martín redraw the map almost every year. The map shows effective control, not claims: land that was conquered, settled, garrisoned or missionised. Unconquered regions (Amazonia, the Chaco, Patagonia, the Mapuche lands, the far north of New Spain) stay empty, and the Tordesillas line shows what the treaties said instead. Simplifications: borders follow modern provinces, with disks around frontier towns, forts and missions and bands along coasts and rivers; small islands are drawn as disks; Venezuela counts under New Spain until 1717 (it answered to the Audiencia of Santo Domingo); royalist-held land keeps its viceroyalty colour during the wars of independence, and patriot-held land takes the colour of the later state. British North America and the United States are context only. Sources: Wikipedia (English, Spanish, Portuguese) on the conquests, the viceroyalties, Dutch Brazil, the treaties of Tordesillas, Madrid and San Ildefonso, and the wars of independence. Aztec, Maya and Inca outlines: Cliopatria (Seshat Global History Databank, CC BY 4.0); borders: Natural Earth. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/spanish-and-portuguese-america-14921826.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/spanish-and-portuguese-america-1492-1826
- [South America: from the wars of independence to today, 1808–2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/south-america-from-the-wars-of-independence-to-today-18082026) by chrisjager - In 1808 South America belonged to two crowns: Spain's viceroyalties and Portugal's Brazil. Napoleon's invasion of Iberia broke both. This map follows what came next, year by year through the wars of independence (the juntas of 1810, the royalist reconquest, San Martín over the Andes, Bolívar from the Orinoco to Potosí, Ayacucho) and then through two centuries of republics: Gran Colombia and the Peru–Bolivian Confederation breaking up, Uruguay born as a buffer state, Paraguay cut down in 1870, Bolivia losing its coast and Peru its nitrate south to Chile, the conquest of Patagonia, Araucanía and the Chaco, Acre, Panama, the Chaco War, the Rio Protocol and the Falklands. Simplifications: territories follow modern provincial borders with hand-drawn cuts where the old line ran elsewhere. Colours show who actually held the land where that is known (royalist or patriot armies, occupations); in the empty Amazon they follow the generally mapped claims, and the indigenous south is shown as free until the state conquered it. Small disputes (Amapá, Pirara, Palmas, the Beagle islands, Essequibo) appear as markers only. Frontier lines in the pampas and the pre-war lines in the Chaco and the upper Amazon are approximate. Sources: Wikipedia articles on the Spanish American wars of independence and on each war, treaty and arbitration named in the markers; Natural Earth borders. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/south-america-from-the-wars-of-independence-to-today-18082026.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/south-america-1808-2026
- [The Holy Roman Empire and Its Lands, 962–1990](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-holy-roman-empire-and-its-lands-9621990) by chrisjager - Every duchy, county, march, prince-bishopric and free city of the Holy Roman Empire, and every land that ever formally belonged to it, from the coronation of Otto I in 962 to German reunification in 1990: the stem duchies, their break-up into hundreds of territories, the rise of Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia, the end of the Empire in 1806, the German Confederation, unification in 1871, both World Wars and the division of Germany. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-holy-roman-empire-and-its-lands-9621990.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/holy-roman-empire-962-1990
- [The British Empire, 1600–1997](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-british-empire-16001997) by chrisjager - From one colony on the James River to a quarter of the world's land, and back to a handful of islands: four centuries of British rule overseas, coloured by the kind of rule. Trading companies came first (the East India Company in Bengal, the Hudson's Bay Company in the Canadian north); the Crown took over; settler colonies became self-governing dominions; and after 1947 almost every territory became independent, most of them inside the Commonwealth. The peak is 1921, between the League of Nations mandates and the Irish Free State. Simplifications: territories follow modern borders, and small islands and ports are drawn as disks so they stay visible at world scale. Early colonies show roughly the settled or garrisoned area, not charter claims. Dominions count as independent from the Statute of Westminster (1931), although Australia and New Zealand adopted it later. Indian princely states are approximated by modern states. Informal influence (Oman, Afghanistan, Persia, treaty ports in China) is left out. Sources: Wikipedia articles on the individual territories, the Statute of Westminster and the member states of the Commonwealth; Natural Earth borders. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-british-empire-16001997.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/british-empire-map-1600-1997
- [England on the Continent, 1066–1558](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/england-on-the-continent-10661558) by chrisjager - From Hastings to the fall of Calais: how the kings of England won and lost half of France. A Norman duke takes England in 1066; Henry II joins Normandy, Anjou and Aquitaine into the Angevin empire; John loses most of it in 1204; the Hundred Years' War brings the high tides of Brétigny (1360) and Troyes (1420) and the collapse that leaves only Calais in 1453. Wales and Ireland follow the same kings. Simplifications: the map shows actual control, not treaty claims; borders follow modern départements and counties, so they are approximate; apanages of royal princes count as royal domain; lands outside the French kingdom are left blank except the Burgundian state; single castles and towns holding out inside the other side's country are not drawn; the Anglo-Irish earldoms that slipped from crown control are shown as Gaelic Ireland. Orange marks Normandy or Anjou under a duke who was not England's king (1066, 1087–1106, 1144–54). Sources: Wikipedia in English and French (Angevin Empire; Treaty of Paris 1259; Treaty of Brétigny; Hundred Years' War; Treaty of Troyes; Pale of Calais; Lordship of Ireland; Conquest of Wales by Edward I; Burgundian State), the Gascon Rolls Project, the Magna Carta Project, Natural Earth admin boundaries. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/england-on-the-continent-10661558.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/england-on-the-continent-1066-1558
- [The Making of England (600–1071)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-making-of-england-6001071) by chrisjager - How a patchwork of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms became one England: the rival powers of Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex, the Great Heathen Army and the Danelaw, the reconquest by Alfred's children and grandson Æthelstan, the Danish kings Sweyn and Cnut, and the Norman conquest up to the fall of Ely. Early medieval frontiers were never surveyed, so borders are drawn soft and follow later shire boundaries; overlordship is shown only where a kingdom was actually absorbed. Sources: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Bede, Ecclesiastical History; Wikipedia articles on the kingdoms, the Great Heathen Army, the Danelaw, Æthelflæd, Edward the Elder, Æthelstan, Cnut and the Norman Conquest; borders from Natural Earth admin units. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-making-of-england-6001071.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-making-of-england-600-1071
- [COVID-19: from Wuhan to the world, 2019–2023](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/covid-19-from-wuhan-to-the-world-20192023) by chrisjager - How COVID-19 spread from a pneumonia cluster in Wuhan to every country, and how variants then took turns sweeping the world. Part 1 (Dec 2019 – Aug 2020) colours each country (provinces in China, regions in Italy, states in the US) by new confirmed cases per million in the 14 days before each date; a country first appears as a circle around the city of its first confirmed case. Part 2 (Oct 2020 – May 2023) colours each country by the variant that made up most of its sequenced samples in the previous four weeks; countries with too few sequences stay uncoloured. Confirmed cases depend on testing and undercount real infections, especially early on and in countries that tested little. Sources: WHO COVID-19 dashboard and Our World in Data (cases, deaths); JHU CSSE (China, Taiwan); The New York Times (US states); Protezione Civile (Italy); CoVariants.org / GISAID (variants); Wikipedia (first cases, events). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/covid-19-from-wuhan-to-the-world-20192023.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/covid-19-pandemic-map-2019-2023
- [Russia's war on Ukraine, 2014–2026: who holds what](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/russias-war-on-ukraine-20142026-who-holds-what) by chrisjager - Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and occupied part of Donbas. On 24 February 2022 it launched a full-scale invasion. Ukraine pushed it back from Kyiv, Kharkiv oblast and Kherson in 2022. Since then the front has moved slowly, with Ukraine's Kursk incursion of 2024–25 as the one move into Russia. Light red is Russian-occupied Ukraine and light blue is Ukrainian-held Russia. Small dots are strikes. Sources: VIINA (Zhukov, ODbL) for control 2022 to mid-2024; DeepStateMap via cyterat/deepstate-map-data from July 2024; a schematic Kursk outline from reported village control; Wikipedia for events. The borders are simplified. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/russias-war-on-ukraine-20142026-who-holds-what.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/russia-ukraine-war-2014-2026
- [Europe 1815–1914: Empires and Nation States](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/europe-18151914-empires-and-nation-states) by chrisjager - From the Congress of Vienna to Sarajevo: a century of nationalism redraws Europe. Italy and Germany unite out of a patchwork of kingdoms and duchies, the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire is pushed out of the Balkans by new nation states (Greece, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Albania), and the Austrian Empire becomes the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Fifty moments show the treaties, wars, revolutions and uprisings in between. Two red overlays mark foreign army occupations and uprisings or revolutionary zones; border bands show the Zollverein (1834–66) and the North German Confederation (1867–70). Borders: OpenHistoricalMap (CC0) where available, otherwise modern provinces (Natural Earth) and Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0); front lines, occupation and uprising zones are approximate. Sources: the treaties from Vienna (1815) to Bucharest (1913), among them Adrianople (1829), London (1832, 1839, 1864, 1913), Zurich and Turin (1859–60), Vienna, Gastein and Prague (1864–66), Frankfurt (1871), San Stefano and Berlin (1878), Constantinople (1881, 1897, 1913); event details from Wikipedia and standard histories. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/europe-18151914-empires-and-nation-states.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/europe-1815-1914-empires-and-nation-states
- [The Great War – Europe and the Middle East 1914–1919](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-great-war-europe-and-the-middle-east-19141919) by chrisjager - Who held which land, from the shots in Sarajevo (28 June 1914) to the end of 1919, in 34 keyframes. Central Powers are warm colours (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria), the Allies cool colours, and countries are grey while neutral; pale tints mark land occupied by a foreign army (German-occupied Belgium, Russian-occupied Galicia, British-occupied Mesopotamia …). Every front is followed — the Western Front, the Eastern Front and the Great Retreat, the Isonzo and the Piave, Serbia and Salonika, Romania, Gallipoli, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Palestine and the Arab Revolt — and then the collapse of four empires: Brest-Litovsk, the armistices, the new states from Finland to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Allied Rhineland, the Polish, Baltic, Hungarian and Russian wars and the treaties of 1919. Russia is shown west of the Urals; Persia and the Arabian interior are not shaded. Borders: Natural Earth units cut by historical lines from OpenHistoricalMap (CC0), treaty texts and official histories; front lines are approximate (about 2–10 km, more in deserts and in the Russian Civil War). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-great-war-europe-and-the-middle-east-19141919.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-great-war-1914-1919
- [World War II in Europe, 1939–1945: Who Held What](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/world-war-ii-in-europe-19391945-who-held-what) by chrisjager - Who controlled which territory in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from the destruction of Czecho-Slovakia (March 1939) to the Potsdam Agreement (August 1945), in 58 snapshots: sovereign states, annexations, occupation regimes (pale tints of the occupier), client states, partisan-held areas, front lines, pockets and the 1945 zones of occupation. Markers show battles, sieges, treaties, uprisings, liberations and atrocities. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/world-war-ii-in-europe-19391945-who-held-what.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/world-war-ii-in-europe-1939-1945
- [Burgundian State, Revolt & Republic](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/burgundian-state-revolt-republic) by chrisjager - The Burgundian Low Countries from Philip the Bold (1363) to the Peace of Münster (1648). Purple = Valois Burgundy (lilac: cadet lines, pledges, occupations); gold = Habsburg Netherlands; green = Spanish Netherlands; orange = Dutch Revolt/Republic; dark blue = French gains; grey = Liège. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/burgundian-state-revolt-republic.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/burgundian-state-revolt-republic
- [Brazil — From Colony to Republic (1500–1909)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/brazil-from-colony-to-empire-15001828) by chrisjager - Brazil 1500–1909. Pale green/gold/teal: territory claimed or held (treaty limits, Empire, Republic); pink: disputed. Darker green/yellow/teal: land actually settled and held. Orange: Dutch; blue: French; brown: Palmares; greys: Spanish America, Paraguay; slate: United Provinces; purple: Uruguay. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/brazil-from-colony-to-empire-15001828.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/brazil-from-colony-to-empire
- [The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-ottoman-empire-12991923) by chrisjager - The Ottoman Empire from Osman's beylik (1299) to the Republic of Turkey (1923) and Hatay (1939). Red: direct Ottoman rule. Amber: vassal, tributary and autonomous lands. Dark crimson: the Ankara government and the Republic of Turkey. Borders adapted from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0) with researched corrections. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-ottoman-empire-12991923.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-ottoman-empire-1299-1923
- [The Black Death (1346–1353)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-black-death-13461353) by chrisjager - The first plague wave, from the Golden Horde (1346) to Moscow (1353), modelled from 500+ dated places. Colour = year of arrival: red 1346–47, orange 1348, yellow 1349, green 1350, cyan 1351–53. Grey: little or no recorded plague (Iceland not reached). Unshaded: no evidence. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-black-death-13461353.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-black-death-1346-1353
- [Swedish Empire – Dynasties & Territories](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/swedish-empire-dynasties-territories) by chrisjager - Sweden from Gustav Vasa (1523) to today: every treaty that built and dismantled the Baltic empire, coloured by royal dynasty. Grey = the rival realm of Denmark–Norway; light blue = Norway in union with Sweden (1814–1905). Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/swedish-empire-dynasties-territories.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/swedish-empire-dynasties-territories
- [Rome — From Republic to Fall of Constantinople (509 BC – 1453 AD)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/rome-from-republic-to-fall-of-constantinople-509-bc-1453-ad) by chrisjager - Two thousand years of Rome on one map: the Republic growing from a single city in Latium to master of the Mediterranean, the Empire at its height under Trajan, the breakaway Gallic and Palmyrene empires of the third-century crisis, the split into West and East, the Western collapse and its last rump states, and the thousand-year Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire — its reconquests, its losses to Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, Normans and Turks, the Fourth Crusade and its Greek successor states — until Constantinople falls in 1453 and Trebizond, the last Roman state, in 1461. Shaded areas are directly ruled territory (in Italy before 90 BC, including Rome's allies); client kingdoms are not shaded. Borders are adapted from Cliopatria (Seshat Global History Databank, CC BY 4.0) with corrections from historical research; coastlines from Natural Earth. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/rome-from-republic-to-fall-of-constantinople-509-bc-1453-ad.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/rome-from-republic-to-fall-of-constantinople
- [The Hanseatic League (1159–1669)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-hanseatic-league-11591669) by chrisjager - The rise and fall of the Hanseatic League, the confederation of merchant towns that dominated northern European trade, from Henry the Lion's refounding of Lübeck (1159) to the last Hanseatic Diet (1669). The Hanse ruled no territory: each shaded area is the land within about 20–35 km of the member towns active at that date, grouped by the League's regional quarters (Wendish, Saxon, Westphalian/Cologne with the Dutch IJssel and Zuiderzee towns shown separately, Prussian and Livonian) and clipped to the medieval coastline. Yellow circles mark the Kontors (London, Bruges, Bergen, Novgorod) and lesser trading posts. Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-hanseatic-league-11591669.md Article: https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-hanseatic-league

## Blog

Full text of all articles: https://www.movingpolygons.com/llms-full.txt

- [How the Asian Hornet Spread Across Europe, 2004–2026: An Animated Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/asian-hornet-spread-europe-map-2004-2026) (2026-10-31) - An animated map of the spread of the yellow-legged or Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) across Europe: every area is coloured by the year the hornet was first recorded there, from a single introduction in south-west France around 2004 to most of western Europe by 2026, built from GBIF records, the UK government's confirmed sightings and published first records.
- [The Dance of the Dragons on One Map: Every Dragon, Army and Battle of the Targaryen Civil War](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/dance-of-the-dragons-map-fire-and-blood-129-131-ac) (2026-10-31) - An animated tapestry map of the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war of Fire & Blood: the Greens of Aegon II against the Blacks of Rhaenyra, with every dragon flying its missions, every army on the march and the realm changing colour from Viserys's death in 129 AC to Aegon III's coronation in 131 AC.
- [Middle-earth from The Hobbit to the Grey Havens: Every Journey and Battle on One Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/middle-earth-the-hobbit-to-the-grey-havens) (2026-10-31) - An animated ink map of Middle-earth that follows every company, rider and army of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, from Thorin's company leaving Bag End in TA 2941 to the Ring-bearers sailing West from the Grey Havens in 3021, after the dates of Tolkien's own Tale of Years.
- [The Mongol Empire, 1206–1368: From the Onon to Four Khanates on One Animated Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/mongol-empire-map-1206-1368) (2026-10-31) - An animated map of the Mongol Empire from Temüjin's rivals on the steppe around 1200 to the fall of the Yuan in 1368: every major conquest, the campaigns behind them, the tributary states around them and the four khanates the empire broke into.
- [How the Netherlands Rose from the Sea: 2,500 Years of Floods and Land Reclamation on One Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/netherlands-land-reclamation-history-map-500-bc-2026) (2026-10-31) - An animated map of how the Netherlands lost land to the sea and won it back, from the peat bogs of 500 BC through the medieval storm floods that made the Zuiderzee, the windmill drainages of the Golden Age and the Zuiderzee Works to the Delta Works and Maasvlakte 2.
- [The Scramble for Africa, 1870–1914: Claims, Conquest and the African States on One Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/scramble-for-africa-map-1870-1914) (2026-10-31) - An animated map of the partition of Africa from 1870 to 1914 that separates paper claims from real control, and shows the African states (Sokoto, Ethiopia, Asante, the Mahdist Sudan, Samori's empire and many more) until the moment they were conquered.
- [The Sengoku Period, 1560–1615: How Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu Unified Japan, on One Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/sengoku-period-unification-of-japan-map-1560-1615) (2026-10-31) - An animated map of the last fifty-five years of Japan's Warring States period: how Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu turned a patchwork of rival daimyō into one realm, with the armies of the great campaigns moving across an embroidered map of the old provinces.
- [Tapestry: History Maps Embroidered on Linen, After House of the Dragon](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/tapestry-map-style) (2026-10-22) - Tapestry is a new map style that turns an animated history map into embroidery on a linen cloth, inspired by the opening titles of House of the Dragon. Territories are raised thread, every change of hands is unpicked and stitched anew, and armies slide over the cloth as appliqué pieces.
- [The Wars of the Roses, 1455–1487: Every March, Landing and Battle on One Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/wars-of-the-roses-1455-1487) (2026-10-22) - An animated map of the Wars of the Roses told through the moving armies: every march, landing, flight and battle between York, Lancaster and Tudor from 1455 to 1487, day by day where the chronicles allow it, on an embroidered linen map.
- [Brabant Through Time: From Caesar's Belgae to Five Provinces in Two Countries (57 BC – 2026)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/brabant-through-time-57-bc-2026) (2026-10-21) - An animated map that follows Brabant from the tribes Caesar met in 57 BC through the medieval duchy, Burgundian, Habsburg and Spanish rule, the split of 1648 and the French period, to today's five provinces in the Netherlands and Belgium.
- [Friesland Through the Ages: Two Thousand Years on the Frisian Coast](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/friesland-through-the-ages-12-bc-2019) (2026-10-21) - From Drusus's fleet in 12 BC to the municipal mergers of 2019, this animated map follows Friesland and the Frisian coast through Roman alliance, a Frisian kingdom, Viking rule, the lordless 'Frisian Freedom', the Guelders wars and the modern province, with the sea and lakes of each era drawn in.
- [Gelre and Gelderland: How a County Named After Geldern Became a Dutch Province (AD 100 – 2026)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/gelre-and-gelderland-ad-100-2026) (2026-10-21) - An animated map that follows Gelderland from the Roman Rhine frontier through the County and Duchy of Guelders, the wars of Charles of Egmond and Maarten van Rossum, the Revolt and the partition of Upper Guelders, to the province of today, while the town it is named after ended up in Germany.
- [Sea Ice at Its Extremes: Arctic and Antarctic Ice in Every Year of the Satellite Record (1979–2026)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/arctic-antarctic-sea-ice-map-1979-2026) (2026-10-15) - An animated map of both polar ice caps at their yearly extremes from 1979 to 2026: the Arctic's summer ice shrinking from about 7 to 4.5 million km², and Antarctic sea ice holding steady for decades before dropping to record lows in 2023.
- [The 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo, Mapped by Health Zone](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/ebola-outbreak-dr-congo-2026-map) (2026-10-14) - An animated map of the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: each health zone is coloured by the month of its first confirmed case, from three zones in Ituri in May to 65 zones in seven provinces by mid-October, with exported cases in Uganda and Kenya.
- [The Making of the United States, 1492–2025: Native Nations and Colonial Powers](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/making-of-the-united-states-1492-2025) (2026-10-14) - Five centuries of North America in one animation: from a continent held by Native nations, through the Spanish, French, Dutch, Swedish, English and Russian footholds, to the United States, Canada and Mexico of today, with Native land drawn from the treaty cessions mapped by Charles Royce.
- [The Holy Roman Empire and Its Lands: A Thousand Years of German Borders (962–1990)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/holy-roman-empire-962-1990) (2026-10-13) - An animated map of the Holy Roman Empire's territories and every land that ever formally belonged to it, from the coronation of Otto I in 962 to the end of the Empire in 1806 and on through German unification, two world wars and reunification in 1990.
- [South America from the Wars of Independence to Today, 1808–2026](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/south-america-1808-2026) (2026-10-13) - In 1808 South America belonged to two crowns. This animated map follows the wars of independence and two centuries of republics, wars, treaties and frontier conquests that produced the twelve states of today.
- [Spanish and Portuguese America, 1492–1826: From Conquest to Independence](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/spanish-and-portuguese-america-1492-1826) (2026-10-13) - From Columbus's landfall in 1492 to the surrender of the last Spanish garrisons at Callao and Chiloé in 1826, this animated map shows how Spain and Portugal conquered Middle and South America and how their empires broke up into new states.
- [The British Empire, 1600–1997: Four Centuries of Rule Overseas on One Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/british-empire-map-1600-1997) (2026-10-12) - An animated world map of the British Empire from the first colony on the James River to the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, coloured by the kind of rule: company, colony, dominion, protectorate, mandate or occupation, and finally independence within the Commonwealth.
- [England on the Continent: How English Kings Won and Lost Half of France (1066–1558)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/england-on-the-continent-1066-1558) (2026-10-11) - An animated map of the French lands of England's kings, from the Norman conquest of 1066 through the Angevin empire and the Hundred Years' War to the loss of Calais in 1558, with Wales and Ireland alongside.
- [The Making of England: From Rival Kingdoms to the Norman Conquest (600–1071)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-making-of-england-600-1071) (2026-10-11) - An animated map of England's unification: the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the 7th century, the Great Heathen Army and the Danelaw, the reconquest by Alfred's family, the Danish kings Sweyn and Cnut, and the Norman conquest up to the fall of Ely in 1071.
- [COVID-19 From Wuhan to the World: The Pandemic and Its Variants on One Map (2019–2023)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/covid-19-pandemic-map-2019-2023) (2026-10-09) - An animated world map of the COVID-19 pandemic in two parts: how confirmed cases spread from a pneumonia cluster in Wuhan to every country in 2020, and how Alpha, Delta and the Omicron lineages took turns as the dominant variant until the WHO ended the emergency in May 2023.
- [Russia's War on Ukraine, 2014–2026: Who Holds What on the Map](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/russia-ukraine-war-2014-2026) (2026-10-08) - An animated map of territorial control in Russia's war on Ukraine, from the annexation of Crimea in 2014 through the full-scale invasion of 2022 to the front line in October 2026, with strikes shown as small dots.
- [Europe 1815–1914: How Nationalism Redrew the Map Between Vienna and Sarajevo](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/europe-1815-1914-empires-and-nation-states) (2026-10-06) - A century of nationalism in one animated map: from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to Sarajevo in 1914, Italy and Germany unite, new nation states replace Ottoman rule in the Balkans, and the Austrian Empire becomes Austria-Hungary.
- [World War II in Europe, 1939–1945: Who Held What, Month by Month](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/world-war-ii-in-europe-1939-1945) (2026-10-05) - From the destruction of Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939 to the Potsdam Agreement in August 1945, this animated map shows who controlled which territory in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in 58 snapshots.
- [The Great War, 1914–1919: Every Front and the Fall of Four Empires](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-great-war-1914-1919) (2026-09-30) - From the shots in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 to the end of 1919, this animated map shows who held which land in Europe and the Middle East, front by front, in 34 keyframes.
- [Particle View: A New Way to Watch History Unfold](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/particle-view) (2026-03-01) - Moving Polygons now offers a Particle View mode that replaces solid polygon fills with animated swarms of colored dots. Watch borders dissolve, empires expand, and territories shift — one particle at a time.
- [The Ottoman Empire: Six Centuries of Conquest, Rule, and Decline](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-ottoman-empire-1299-1923) (2026-02-28) - From a small beylik in northwest Anatolia to a three-continent empire — and back to a single point in Istanbul. This animated map traces the full 624-year arc of the Ottoman Empire.
- [Rome: From Republic to the Fall of Constantinople (509 BC – 1453 AD)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/rome-from-republic-to-fall-of-constantinople) (2026-02-27) - Nearly two millennia of Roman civilization in one animated map — from the birth of the Republic in 509 BC, through the Empire's peak under Trajan, the East-West split, and the final fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD.
- [The Community Library: Country Polygons and Reusable Maps](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/community-library-and-polygon-reuse) (2026-02-26) - Moving Polygons now has a Community Library with ready-to-use country polygons and published maps. Copy any timeline into your own map and start building from what others have already created.
- [New: Export as GIF & Embed Maps on Your Website](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/export-gif-and-embed-your-maps) (2026-02-26) - Two new features make it easier than ever to share your animated maps: export any published map as a GIF, or embed it as a fully interactive widget on your own website.
- [Welcome to Moving Polygons](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/welcome-to-moving-polygons) (2026-02-26) - Why we started Moving Polygons — a passion for maps, history, and showing the full picture of how territories change over time.
- [The Swedish Empire: From Gustav Vasa to Modern Sweden](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/swedish-empire-dynasties-territories) (2026-02-20) - Trace the Swedish Empire from Gustav Vasa's break with the Kalmar Union in 1523 through its Baltic zenith and the treaties that shaped Scandinavia.
- [AI-Generated Maps: From a Topic to a Full Animated Timeline](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/ai-generated-maps) (2026-02-13) - What if you could describe a historical period and get a complete animated map in return? We're exploring AI-powered map generation — here's where things stand and how you can try it today.
- [From Burgundy to the Dutch Republic: Three Centuries of Transformation](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/burgundian-state-revolt-republic) (2026-02-12) - Five overlapping timelines trace the Low Countries from Philip the Bold's Burgundian state (1363) through the Dutch Revolt to the Peace of Münster (1648).
- [The Black Death: Mapping the Deadliest Pandemic in History](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-black-death-1346-1353) (2026-02-01) - Trace the devastating spread of the Black Death from Crimea across all of Europe in just seven years — a pandemic that killed an estimated 25–50 million people.
- [Brazil: From Colony to Empire (1500–1828)](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/brazil-from-colony-to-empire) (2026-01-22) - Follow Brazil's transformation from a Portuguese claim on the coast to a continent-spanning empire, through Dutch invasion, independence under Pedro I, and the war that created Uruguay.
- [The Hanseatic League: Five Centuries of Trade and Power](https://www.movingpolygons.com/blog/the-hanseatic-league) (2026-01-10) - From the rebuilding of Lübeck in 1159 to the last Hanseatic Diet in 1669: trace the rise and decline of medieval Europe's most powerful trade confederation.

## Use Cases

- [Historical Maps & Territory Visualization](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/historical-maps) - Bring history to life with animated maps that show how borders, empires, and territories evolved across centuries. Perfect for historians and educators.
- [Economic Policy & Trade Zone Mapping](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/economic-policy) - Visualize shifting trade agreements, economic zones, sanctions, and policy impact areas over time. Built for policy analysts and economists.
- [Urban Planning & Land Use Analysis](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/urban-planning) - Track zoning changes, urban sprawl, and redevelopment areas with animated geographic overlays. Built for city planners and developers.
- [Climate & Environmental Change Monitoring](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/climate-environment) - Map deforestation, coastline erosion, ice sheet retreat, and habitat loss as they unfold over time. Built for environmental researchers and NGOs.
- [Electoral & Political Boundary Mapping](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/electoral-politics) - Visualize redistricting, election results, and political boundary shifts across election cycles. Built for campaigns and political analysts.
- [Business Intelligence & Market Expansion](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/business-intelligence) - Map franchise growth, retail footprint expansion, and competitive landscape changes over time. Built for strategy teams and market researchers.
- [Public Health & Epidemiological Mapping](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/public-health) - Track disease spread, vaccination coverage, and healthcare access zones as they evolve over time. Built for epidemiologists and health departments.
- [Geopolitics & Defense Intelligence](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/geopolitics-defense) - Visualize conflict zones, territorial disputes, military alliances, and sphere-of-influence changes over time. Built for defense analysts and foreign policy institutes.
- [Education & Academic Research](https://www.movingpolygons.com/use-cases/education-research) - Create interactive teaching materials and research visualizations that show geographic change over time. Built for educators and researchers.

## Technology

- Frontend: React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Mapbox GL
- Backend: React Router 7 (SSR), PostgreSQL (Neon), Drizzle ORM
- Hosting: Vercel (serverless)
- Polygon morphing with smooth interpolation between geographic states