page_title: Dot distribution map
section_title: Carte philosophique figurant la population de la France
hierarchical_section_title: Dot distribution map / Historical examples of dot distribution maps / Carte philosophique figurant la population de la France
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Carte Philosophique figurant la Population de la France, par Armand Joseph Frère de Montizon
context_page_description: A dot distribution map, or dot density map, is a map type that uses a dot symbol to show the presence of a feature or a phenomenon. Dot maps rely on a visual scatter to show spatial pattern.
context_section_description: The first dot distribution map was created by a Franciscan friar, Armand Joseph Frère de Montizon (1788–????). It is a relatively simple map of population by département (administrative district) in France and is one of the first known examples of a demographic map for the country. Each dot represents 10,000 individuals. The dots are spaced in even rows, the distance between which determined by the population of the department. A table in the map lists the departments by name, population, and prefectural city. The departments were numbered on the map to correspond to the table. The regular spacing of the dots in the map produces a visual display of population density, as higher population levels within an administrative border exhibit a closer, denser pattern of dots. Since the dots are evenly spaced, it is evident that they do not represent the actual locations of where people live within a department. This is an example of an ecological fallacy, where a value for an area generalizes all within that area to exhibit that value.
  Although Montizon's map was the first thematic dot map published, it did not garner the author fame. Instead, his innovation had no effect on practice for nearly 30 years until the dot distribution map was "reinvented" for map by a Swedish Army officer, published in 1859. This map was authored by Thure Alexander von Mentzer and shows the population distribution for the Scandinavian region. No known reproductions of this map exist.
caption: Carte Philosophique figurant la Population de la France
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