Anti-war demonstrations

Before / after satellite photos of Saddam's palace in Baghdad, Iraq. Note the
new parking lots, modular housing, restoration of the waterworks, and other interesting markings of new tenants in the emperor's crib.

How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? Our map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go!

International demonstrations

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This map shows the distribution of the 15.9 million people worldwide who protested against the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by troops from over 25 other territories, including from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Poland. There was an international response to this international war.

There were protests against the war recorded in 96 of the 200 mapped territories, and probably smaller protests in most others. The largest protests were in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States - which together account for 80% of protesters. In Rome 3 million people marched in the largest popular demonstration so far recorded.

If you attended a smaller demonstration on this weekend, please check our current list of demonstrations (355kb) and see if you can help us to improve the data.

"Aren’t all those who are encouraging school children to skip school and demonstrate acting very irresponsibly?" Liz Fairbairn, 2003

Territory size shows the proportion of all people who demonstrated against a war in Iraq, on the 14th, 15th and 16th of February 2003, who demonstrated there.