A laboratory for asking complex questions of 194 nations across 150 years. Pick any two of more than a hundred indicators for the axes, layer three more onto the bubble ring, filter by region or theme, surface top and bottom N on any dimension, and watch how the answers move from 1900 to 2050.
The Civilisation Lab · v150
Methodology & Sources
This lab visualises authoritative data on 194 nations from 1900 to 2050. Every
time-varying indicator is sourced from a public, openly-licensed dataset and
ingested through an automated pipeline. Where a country lacks an observation
for a specific year, values are linearly interpolated between the nearest
available years; projections beyond the latest observation use modelled
trajectories grounded in regional baselines. Indicators flagged "2022 ref"
use a single anchor year. The full source registry is below.
Time-varying indicators
The following indicators are time-series, drawn from authoritative providers
and updated via an automated pipeline (see "Reproducibility" below). Coverage
is reported against the lab's 194-country set.
Indicator
Source
ID
Years
Coverage (of 194)
Indicators from secondary sources (2022 reference)
These indicators rely on aggregated or curated sources released annually, and
are referenced against 2022 with regional-trajectory modelling for earlier
years. We are working on extending these to full time-series in future
versions of the pipeline.
Indicator
Source
Notes
Human Development Index
UNDP Human Development Report 2024
HDI 2022 values, projected backwards using regional trajectories.
Gender Inequality Index
UNDP HDR 2024
GII 2022, trajectory-modelled history.
Tourism arrivals
UNWTO Tourism Statistics 2024
Annual international arrivals.
Democracy index
V-Dem Polyarchy 2024
0–1 polyarchy index.
Press freedom
RSF World Press Freedom Index 2024
Composite 0–100 score (higher = freer).
Refugee population
UNHCR 2024
Refugees hosted, end-of-year stock.
Internet freedom
Freedom House 2024
0–100 composite score.
Social Progress Index
SPI 2024
0–100 composite welfare score.
Economic Complexity Index
Harvard Atlas 2023
ECI rank-based complexity score.
PM 2.5 exposure
WB / IHME
Annual mean μg/m³ population-weighted exposure.
Vehicles per 1000
OICA / WB
Motor vehicles in use.
Maternal mortality
WB / WHO
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Energy use per capita
IEA / OWID
Primary energy consumption, kWh/cap.
Migration stock
UN DESA
International migrant stock.
Oil / gas / steel production
EIA / IEA / World Steel
National production, historically anchored.
Reproducibility
The time-varying dataset is generated by a single Python script that pulls
directly from the providers' public APIs (World Bank Open Data REST API,
Our World in Data Grapher CSV exports). The script outputs a single
real_data.js file in the format
{ ISO3: { year: value, ... } } per indicator. Running it
against the current upstream data takes about ten minutes and is fully
deterministic. The pipeline and notebook are linked from the project's
GitHub repository.
Data types & interpolation
Observed — collected at the source. Cyan markers on the chart and timeline. The chart trusts these values directly.Interpolated — linear or log interpolation between two known observed years. Pale dots. Used where annual coverage is sparse.Illustrative trajectory — shown post-observation (typically beyond 2022) to extend the visual pattern. Not a forecast. Dashed outline. Conservative trend extrapolation, capped where data physics demand (e.g., life expectancy capped at +0.08 years/year over the last observation).
Before earliest observation: linear ramp from a regional
baseline (e.g., life expectancy ≈ 30 in Africa, ≈ 45 in Europe circa
1900) to the first observed value, when needed to populate 1900 onwards.
Licensing & citation
Licences differ by provider. The lab's own data layer is shared under CC BY 4.0 where the
upstream licence allows it; the code is MIT. Entries marked "licence to verify" have not
been checked against the provider's current terms yet; do not assume they are CC BY.
Source
Licence
Status
World Bank Open Data (WDI)
CC BY 4.0
documented by the provider
Our World in Data (charts and processed data)
CC BY 4.0; underlying datasets keep their own licences
documented by the provider; underlying sources to verify
Ember (electricity)
CC BY 4.0
to verify against the current release
Global Carbon Project
CC BY 4.0 (Global Carbon Budget data)
to verify
UN World Population Prospects (UN DESA)
CC BY 3.0 IGO
to verify
UNDP Human Development Report (HDI, GII)
licence to verify
to verify
ILO (ILOSTAT modelled estimates)
licence to verify
to verify
WHO Global Health Observatory
licence to verify (WHO data terms)
to verify
WHO / UNICEF JMP, UNICEF, UNFPA
licence to verify
to verify
FAO (FAOSTAT, FRA)
licence to verify
to verify
IEA
licence to verify (free datasets are CC BY 4.0, others are not)
to verify
BP Statistical Review / Energy Institute
licence to verify
to verify
World Steel Association
licence to verify
to verify
V-Dem
licence to verify
to verify
EIU Democracy Index
proprietary report; licence to verify
to verify
Polity IV, Freedom House
licence to verify
to verify
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
licence to verify
to verify
Transparency International (CPI)
licence to verify (CPI data carry a no-derivatives clause in recent editions)
to verify
UNHCR
licence to verify
to verify
UNODC
licence to verify
to verify
UNWTO
licence to verify
to verify
IHME
licence to verify (IHME data are typically free for non-commercial use only)
to verify; commercial use may not be allowed
OICA, UBS Prices and Earnings, The Economist (Big Mac index)
licence to verify
to verify
World Happiness Report, Social Progress Imperative, Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity
licence to verify
to verify
UNESCO UIS, OECD, IMF
licence to verify
to verify
Maddison Project, UN DESA migration, Koppen-Geiger climate data
licence to verify
to verify
Anchor tables typed into the code (HDI pre-1990, democracy, press freedom, vehicles, energy, water, Big Mac, oil, gas, steel, food, CPI, migration, tourism, GII, refugees, internet freedom, SPI, ECI, maternal mortality, PM2.5, R&D)
no licence recorded; values hand-entered from the providers above
provenance to verify value by value
Cervantes Grau, O. (2026). The Civilisation Lab v150.
Data: World Bank Open Data (CC-BY-4.0); Our World in Data (CC-BY-4.0);
UNDP HDR; V-Dem; RSF; UNHCR; Freedom House; UNWTO; IHME; OICA; IEA.
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Sources and method
The Civilisation Lab
About the Lab
One chart, 194 nations, 150 years. Every bubble is a country; size is population,
colour is continent. Pick any two indicators for the axes, press play and watch the
twentieth century run. The cards marked with a small speaker narrate their story aloud,
with subtitles. Built and maintained by one person, in the open.
Where the data comes from, which years are observed and which are modelled, and how to
cite a view: see Sources and method. The chart opens at the Glance level
(just the chart); Advanced in the top bar reveals the Steer and Lab levels
with every control.