The map is a choropleth map that indicates the scale of average life expectancy across countries in the year 2000. This data was from United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The dark red colored countries are those at the bottom of the spectrum, that have a life expectancy that falls in the range 38-51, while the more saturated green colored countries have the higher end with a life expectancy in the range 76-81. However, some data is not recorded and appears as a white coloration, such as Antarctica and Greenland. The map reveals a dense area of low life expectancy in most of Africa (except the extreme north). Vice versa, Europe and North America have high life expectancies. This is portraying a big difference between more developed countries and underdeveloped countries. It relates back to how advanced the area is in technology, how accessible health care is, the GDP of a country, and can even reflect population issues. In this choropleth map, I had to consider the color scale and possible connotations. So, I went with red for low life expectancy which is usually associated with death or danger, then green for high life expectancy as it is often associated with life and health. Another consideration I had to make was what projection I would use. As much as I would have wanted to be accurate with shape to distinguish each country when using the Mercator projection, the most pronounced areas were Greenland and Antarctica, which as aforementioned had no data so are colored white, thus drawing attention to the parts of the map that have no significance. As a result, I chose the Natural Earth II (world) projection, which still makes each country distinguishable, but does not focus upon areas of no data. Finally, I also chose a graticule of 15 degrees, as it made the grid have a better fit to the map, neither being indistinct nor drawing attention away from the data.
