Maps in R

Author

Michele Tobias, PhD

Published

December 19, 2025

Overview

Learning Goals

After completing this chapter, learners should be able to:

  • Apply popular mapping workflows to create maps with spatial data
  • Assess which workflow works best in different situations
  • Apply cartographic best practices to a map composition in R
Workshop Description

In this workshop, participants will learn how to use several options for composing maps in R.

Software & Data

To fully participate in this workshop, learners will need to attend to the following before the workshop:

  1. Download and install R
  2. Download and install RStudio
  3. Download the workshop data and, unzip it, and store it in a location they can find such as a folder dedicated to this workshop (we do not recommend leaving it in your Downloads folder). This is the same data we use in the Cartography for Academic Publications Workshop.
Prerequisites

For the best experience, we recommend learners have the following skills before taking this workshop:

  • an introductory understanding of programming in R (for example, you are familiar with how to load libraries, load common data formats like a CSV, and are comfortable running basic commands). See DataLab’s R Basics Workshop for help.
  • an introductory understanding of spatial data (for example, you are familiar with the difference between raster and vector data). See DataLab’s Spatial Data Formats Workshop for help.
  • (recommended) review the concepts (first section) of DataLab’s Cartography for Academic Publications Workshop
  • (recommended) review the Davis R Users Group’s Intro to GIS in R Workshop