More than three-quarters of the world's nations are at war with each other over their national boundaries. In this case, digital maps can spark controversy.
 |
| Photo (https://unsplash.com/photos/TrhLCn1abMU) |
The Belt and Road Initiative Summit was recently held in China. At the conference, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce That is, the map of the Belt and Road Initiative route showed that Jammu and Kashmir as well as the entire region of Arunachal Pradesh are part of India. For many, the incident was a source of surprise and curiosity. This is because the news that about 30,000 maps showing Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory was destroyed was run by many news outlets. In fact, it is not easy to accept that China could make such a mistake. Of course, China later deleted the map from its website. Only B.R.I. Against the backdrop of India's decision to boycott the summit for the second time in a row, in order to gain India's trust, China did not play this game on purpose, did it? This, of course, has given way to this discussion.
Whether inadvertently or deliberately, these developments underscore the importance of maps in today's world of technology and rapid communication, where information and concepts are easily exchanged between countries and people. Of course, maps are not neutral, no matter what the purpose. It is true that any action to refer to a map of any country is a political statement.
Boundaries and Cartography:
If you look at the history, the boundaries of any dynasty were not so definite. The boundary of the kingdom was considered to be the boundary declared by the victorious army of the rulers of that time. The art of mapping is closely linked to the history of cartography, followed by the concept of nationalism. In fact, no country on earth has such a boundary. However, the 'border' is the main reason behind disputes, battles and bloodshed. In fact, the dashed lines that identify a nation appear on any map, and then naturally they also become political.
About one-third of the world's borders are formed by colonization. Considering the border of India itself, the border of India with Pakistan and Bangladesh is drawn by a British man named Cyril Radcliffe. Importantly, Cyril had never visited India before. At the time, Cyril had only five weeks to draw the line and create two separate countries. The African continent is still in the shadow of many of the frontiers created by such colonialism. It took 30 years and many wars to clear the border between Congo and Uganda.
There are countless countries disputed over borders on the world map. More than three-quarters of these countries have been at war with each other over their national borders for years. In a sense, borderism has become a point of contention in modern times. In this case, the use of digital maps through the Internet can spark controversy.
Cartography and Boundaryism:
Nicaraguan troops entered Costa Rica in 2010 and set foot in a 2.7-kilometer area. The incident was also picked up by the media. When Commander Pastora was asked about this intrusion, his answer is thought provoking. The area was shown to be Nicaragua's, according to Google's map display service, Google Maps. That's why Pastora reacted to this intrusion. The incident raised tensions on both sides and the Border Security Force was deployed. The dispute was finally settled when the leading technology company apologized for its mistake in showing the area as Nicaraguan on the map.
This type of alteration or tampering with maps in Google Maps has been a constant occurrence. Of course, Google has to show maps according to the national laws of those countries, which is also the main reason behind many such changes. For example, if you use Googlemap from India, Arunachal Pradesh appears on the map of India as a state in the northeast of India, but if you use Googlemap from China, Arunachal Pradesh appears to be part of China.
In order to satisfy India and China at the same time, it was decided in 2009 to show two different versions of the same map. An earlier version of the map had dealt a heavy blow to Google, as well as the visit of the then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh to Arunachal Pradesh during the election period. Because of these developments, Google decided to show two different versions of the same map. Of course, even if Google has such an option to settle various political disputes arising out of the maps you have created, it still has difficulty in delineating the boundaries of some of the disputed territories. In one of his articles, The Irish Times quoted a man traveling from Ireland to the UK using Google Maps as saying, “The road you are traveling on, That road will cross the country's borders, "he said. But at the same time, as we entered a town on the west coast of Israel from Tel Aviv, it was pointed out that no such notice had been received, despite the fact that Israel's official Green Line had to cross the border.
In India, using Google Maps to find the route from Demchok in Leh district to the Gar Post Bureau office in Tibet, the entire 89 km journey took about two and a half hours, according to Google Maps. For the same route, you are instructed to "come to the place you want to go, in a different area of international standard time". However, no instructions are given that you have to cross the border on this route. However, in the Chinese version of the map of the same area, Demchok is shown to be within the borders of China, and there is no information on Google Maps about the route you mentioned above. Even if you try to find your way through other villages around Ka Demchok, nothing works. If you are curious about a village for more information, the map shows the northernmost part of the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Until the Chinese troops landed in the Damchok area in July last year, Indian and Chinese troops were stationed far away from each other in the area. So given the sensitivity of the area politically, the fact that Google Maps doesn't get any hints about the border crossing here seems a bit incomprehensible.
Given the ongoing dispute between India and China over this area, should such a suggestion have been deliberately avoided? Let us understand an example in this context. If you want to see why, if you want to find the route from Feodosia in the Crimean peninsula to Krasnodar in Russia on Google Maps, and, if you use Google Maps from any country, Google Maps will tell you, "You can cross the international border of the country on this route" Gives instructions.
State Contrast vs. Geographical Contrast:
A look at history reveals that maps have often been used as a tool to propagate our ideas and goals. Maps were used to show how widespread communism was in Russia during the Cold War. Those who looked at such a map thought that communism, like a rapidly spreading disease, was the greatest crisis. Most recently, the Trump administration mapped out a victory plan for the 2016 midterm college elections. Smaller areas were underlined in this map. Most of the country was shown in red, while a small area was shown in blue. This map touched the emotions of many voters, creating a confusing opinion about who is in the lead in getting votes. The joke is that the election was actually won by Hillary Clinton against Trump by a margin of three million votes. In this way, specific public opinion can be formed using maps. Now, if the task of creating maps is in the hands of a powerful company with a large customer base, it is up to the maker to decide exactly how objective it should be or not.
An online mapping company called Open Street Map provides services based on information from community members. They have a very simple solution. According to their policy, in the area of dispute, they follow the principle of what the actual situation is in that area, or use only the information obtained from it. That is, the map of that region shows the information actually found at that place. In addition, while providing the service, they explain, "We do not say that the information shown by the Open Street Map, the names of the places on the map, the location of the boundaries or the description is correct in terms of law". However Google Maps refrains from anything like that.
Despite the policy of showing boundaries in accordance with the laws of those countries, the mistakes that Google is making in displaying disputed boundaries are incomprehensible. About a decade ago, a Google executive said, "The company needs to find as much information as possible and pass that information on to users, so users can form their own opinions about a geographic dispute." Google Maps has nearly one billion active users worldwide, while at the same time Google covers 99% of the world's territory. However, it is a complex and confusing responsibility to draw the line at which disputes are disputed. A decade has passed since that Google official's statement. But Google's move to satisfy those countries with controversial maps is political.
Post a Comment