Ethnic maps have existed for two centuries, but almost all of them share one limitation: they present a single authoritative view. Someone, somewhere, decided what categories to use, which populations to count, and how to draw the boundaries. Everyone else consumes the result. If you disagree, or if you think the map misses something important, there is usually no way to contribute your own perspective.
This project starts from a different premise. Ethnic identity is fluid, contested, and constantly negotiated. Different people perceive different distributions. The gap between what experts measure and what ordinary people perceive is itself interesting data. So instead of publishing yet another authoritative map, we built a tool that lets anyone contribute their own perceptions, then aggregated the results into a living visualization.
What you can do here
The core interaction takes about ten seconds. Search for an ethnicity from the curated list of 23 broad categories, click on a country where you think that group is present, and your vote is recorded. Do this a few times for countries you know well, and your contribution becomes part of the shared map that everyone sees.
If the ethnicity you want to vote for is not in the list, you can submit it as a custom tag. These enter a moderation queue and, if legitimate, become available for other users to vote on as well. This is how the map evolves over time: driven by what users actually want to see, not by top-down decisions about which groups to include.
What the map is and is not
We are transparent about what this map represents. It is a snapshot of perception, aggregated across many users, updating in real time. It is not a demographic study. A country may show a strong color for a particular group because visitors find that group visible or characteristic, not because it is the largest by population. For actual demographic statistics, users should consult primary sources.
This distinction matters. When the map diverges from official demographic data, that divergence is itself worth examining. Are people over-representing more visible communities and under-representing quieter ones? Are certain groups more associated with certain countries than the actual populations would justify? These are interesting questions, and this project exists partly to make them askable.
On responsibility
Ethnic mapping has a fraught history. It has been used to justify borders, exclude communities, and rationalize discrimination. Anyone building tools in this space has to grapple with that history and take care not to contribute to further harm. We do this in several ways: by keeping data aggregate rather than individual, by moderating user contributions to filter out spam and slurs, by being transparent about what the map represents, and by refusing any use of the data for targeted political purposes.
At the same time, we believe that the honest study of ethnic diversity is valuable. Refusing to talk about it does not make it go away. What we aim for is careful, transparent, and user-controlled: a tool that helps people see how the world understands ethnic diversity, without pretending to have final answers about who anyone really is.
What comes next
Right now, the map is in its early days. Contributions are arriving from users around the world, categories are being refined based on feedback, and the underlying dataset is growing steadily. Over the coming months we plan to add more granular categories, richer visualizations, and additional guide content that helps users interpret what they see.
The best way to help is to visit the main map, vote for a few countries, and share what you find interesting. For deeper context, the guides section has long-form articles on how ethnic mapping works, common pitfalls to avoid, and the history behind this kind of visualization.