Protests in 2014

A week ago I tweeted a link to a stunning collection of dramatic photos from protests around the world in 2014. It was an amazing year: Ayotzinapa, Bangkok, Catalonia, Euromaidan, Ferguson, Hong Kong, Taksim…

But it bugged me that such a list omits the many protests in 2014 that were less spectacular or photogenic, but just as vital to the participants.

So for your consideration, a heatmap of protests across the world in 2014:

I drew the data from the GDELT project, which monitors media around the world and logs people, places, organizations, and events into an open database. Doubtless, many actions did not receive the media hit necessary to make it into the dataset, but the map gives a better sense of the breadth of activity this year.

2015 should be interesting.

Happy new year!