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Dev tools · October 18, 2025

Land use visualization for European countries

We have another election coming up at the end of this month here in the Netherlands, and how we use our limited land is a hotly debated topic. Last year also I shared this animated hexagonal map of Dutch land use. I've now expanded this to include several more European countries, so you can see what makes Dutch land use so special - or not. If you want to help add more countries, I'd appreciate PRs on GitHub. The map rendering is already there, it only requires land use data which can be found in the SQLite database (at least for EU countries). Github:…

Land use visualization for European countries launched on October 18, 2025 with 23 votes, #543 of 8,178 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.

In plain words

This tool visualizes land use patterns across European countries using animated hexagonal maps, allowing users to compare how different nations utilize their territory. Originally created to illustrate Dutch land use during political debates about limited space, it now covers multiple European countries with data sourced from SQLite databases. The project is open-source and welcomes contributions to add more countries to the comparison.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Interactive visualization comparing land use across European countries. Explore how different nations utilize their land for agriculture, nature, urban areas, and more.

In the maker’s words, at launch

We have another election coming up at the end of this month here in the Netherlands, and how we use our limited land is a hotly debated topic. Last year also I shared this animated hexagonal map of Dutch land use. I've now expanded this to include several more European countries, so you can see what makes Dutch land…

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