A historical geographic information system (also written as historical GIS or HGIS) is a

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...

that may display, store and analyze data of past geographies and track changes in time. It is a tool for historical geography.

Techniques

Historical geographic information systems are built from a variety of sources and techniques. An especially prominent method is the digitization and georeferencing of historical maps. Old maps may contain valuable information about the past. By adding coordinates to such maps, they may be added as a feature layer to modern GIS data. This facilitates comparison of different map layers showing the geography at different times. The maps may be further enhanced by techniques such as rubbersheeting, which spatially warps the data to fit with more accurate modern maps. Large map collections, such as the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, have digitized and georeferenced their maps and published them on the Internet, making them accessible for a variety of projects. Georeferencing historical microdata, such as

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

or parish records, allows researchers to conduct

spatial analysis Spatial analysis is any of the formal Scientific technique, techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties, primarily used in Urban design, Urban Design. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techni ...

of historical data. Comparisons between statistical areas can require reconstructing former political boundaries and other types of borders and tracking their evolution.

Notable historical GIS projects

* The ''

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries The ''Atlas of Historical County Boundaries'' (abbreviated AHCB) is a historical atlas and historical geographic information system chronicling the history of counties and county equivalents in the United States. It was compiled by the Dr. Will ...

'' tracks the evolution of U.S. counties. * China Historical Geographic Information System is a project on

Imperial China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

developed by

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

. * Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) is a clearinghouse for the exchange of metadata of Historical GIS. Maintained by the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. * Euratlas History Maps is a historical atlas of Europe from year 1 to present days with one map per century. The maps depict sovereign states as well as administrative divisions and dependent territories. * Great Britain Historical GIS is a GIS-enabled database holding diverse geo-referenced maps, statistics, gazetteers and travel writing, especially for the period 1801–2001 covered by British censuses. Created and maintained by Portsmouth University. * HistoAtlas is an open historical geographical information system that tries to build a free historical atlas of the world. *

National Historical Geographic Information System The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is a historical GIS project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate United States Census, census information for the United States between Uni ...

(NHGIS) is a system for displaying and analyzing Census tracts and tract changes in the United States. * OpenHistoricalMap is an open-source historical world atlas based on

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (abbreviated OSM) is a free, Open Database License, open geographic database, map database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveying, surveys, trace from Ae ...

technology and practices.

Software or web services developed for Historical GIS

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

added a time line feature in version 4 (2006) that enables simple temporal browsing of spatial data.Announcement of the featur
at the Google Earth blog
2006. * TimeMap is a

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

open-source applet (or program) for browsing spatial-temporal data and ECAI data sets. Developed by the department of archaeology University of Sydney.

References

* Ian N. Gregory, Don Debats, Don Lafreniere eds.: The Routledge Companion to Spatial History. Routledge 2018 * Joachim Laczny: ''Friedrich III. (1440–1493) auf Reisen. Die Erstellung des Itinerars eines spätmittelalterlichen Herrschers unter Anwendung eines Historical Geographic Information System (Historical GIS)'' In: Joachim Laczny, Jürgen Sarnowsky eds.: ''Perzeption und Rezeption. Wahrnehmung und Deutung im Mittelalter und in der Moderne (Nova Mediaevalia Quellen und Studien zum europäischen Mittelalter, 12), Göttingen: V&R unipress 2014, p. 33–65. , '' * Ian N. Gregory, Paul Ell: ''Historical GIS: Technologies, Methodologies, and Scholarship'' (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography) 2008 * Anne Kelly Knowles: ''Past Time, Past Place: GIS for history'' A collection of twelve case studies on the use of GIS in historical research and education. ESRI press 2002 * Anne Kelly Knowles, Amy Hillier eds.: ''Placing History: How Maps, Spatial Data, and GIS Are Changing Historical Scholarship'' 2008 * Ian N. Gregory
''A place in History''
A short introduction to HGIS by the lead developers of GBHGIS ISSN 1463-5194 * Ott, T. and Swiaczny, F.: ''Time-integrative GIS. Management and analysis of spatio-temporal data'', Berlin / Heidelberg / New York: Springer 2001 * Feature edition of Historical development GIS in the journal

Social Science History ''Social Science History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal. It is the official journal of the Social Science History Association. Its articles bring an analytic, theoretical, and often quantitative approach to historical evidence. I ...

24 2000, Introduction by Anne Kelly Knowles. {{Historiography Applications of geographic information systems

Techniques

Notable historical GIS projects

Software or web services developed for Historical GIS

See also

References

Further reading