Whether it’s a legendary footballer or a famed inventor, many of us are proud to be from the same town as a notable figure.
Have you ever wondered who is the most notable person in your state, city or town?
Now you can find out with a few clicks of your mouse as an incredible interactive map has been developed that reveals the birthplaces of the most notable people around the world.
The map was created by Mapbox researcher and geographer Topi Tjukanov and is based on a study published in June this year.
In the study, researchers from the University of Paris set out to calculate a person’s notability based on information scraped from Wikipedia and Wikidata.
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“A new strand of literature aims at building the most comprehensive and accurate database of notable individuals,” the research team, led by Morgane Laouénan, wrote.
“We collect a massive amount of data from various editions of Wikipedia and Wikidata.”
The data takes into account a number of factors, including the number of Wikipedia entries, the length of entries, the average number of views for each person from 2015 to 2018, and the total number of external links.
“Using data from Morgane Laouénan et al, the map is showing birthplaces of the most ‘notable people’ around the world,” Mr Tjukanov explained.
“Data has been processed to show only one person for each unique geographic location with the highest notability rank.”
When you first look at the map, you’ll notice just a few names in each country or region, but when you zoom in, more will appear.
Scrolling around the world you’ll notice names of notable figures, from celebrities to athletes, to authors and politicians.
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The map suggests that Sean Connery is the most notable person to hail from Edinburgh, while Barack Obama tops the list in Honolulu, and Freddie Mercury in Zanzibar.
The Australian map also reveals numerous household names, among them singers Kylie Minogue and Sia, and actor Hugh Jackman.
Unsurprisingly, some regions boast more influential figures than others.
Greater London is one, with a slew of heavyweight names such as Charlie Chaplin, Mick Jagger and David Bowie.
The results can be split into four categories – Culture, Discovery & Science, Leadership and Sports & Games. Or you can select ‘All’ to see the overall most notable person from the area.
If a name is larger and more visible from further away, it means the person has higher rankings. When you zoom in on the map, more names appear. By clicking an influential figure’s name, you can see their notability rank, gender and whether or not they are still alive.
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Not only does this dataset result in cool visuals, but it helps researchers probe all manner of social issues.
With this kind of data, they can spot changing trends related to celebrities and other notable people. If and when the gender balance of famous people tips, for example, and how economic growth and cultural development impact notability.
By focusing on Wikipedia editions in multiple languages, the researchers were able to compile a much larger dataset than previous efforts that have focused on English.
Who is the most famous person from your hometown? Let us know in the comments section below.
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