RCEP: Agreement Signed to Form Massive Free Trade Area (Map)

Graphic modified by Evan Centanni from this map by Wikimedia user Masterdeis (CC BY-SA).

What is the RCEP free trade deal?

Two weeks agao, 15 countries in Asia and Oceania signed a long-planned treaty to form the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade area widely billed as the "world's largest". However, the RCEP doesn't exist quite yet as an actual free trade area, since it's still waiting to be ratified (written into the laws of member countries). Read on for a quick explanation of what the RCEP is, when it will be implemented, and how it compares to the world's other free trade areas.

Syria Control Map & Report: Army Takes Last IS Stronghold - November 2020 (Subscription)

SUBSCRIBERS CLICK HERE TO PROCEED TO ARTICLE AND MAP

There are newer editions of this map available. To see them, view all Syria updates.

Research by Djordje Djukic. Map by onestopmap.com, Evan Centanni, and Djordje Djukic

Subscribe Now! Subscribe for full access to all conflict map reports!

The so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) has lost control of a remote gas field that formed its last clearly-held territory in Syria. But it hasn't disappeared: The group has continued carrying out attacks in the central desert through a dispersed, mobile operations network.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Syrian Civil War control map, which includes a timeline of changes since our previous Syria map report in July, with sources cited.

This map and report are premium content, available to paid subscribers of the PolGeoNow Conflict Mapping Service.

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Syria map!

Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Syria, color-coded for the Assad government, rebel groups, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Colorblind accessible.
• NEW: Pattern showing areas of "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) dispersed operational presence now that the group has lost its last firmly-held territory.
  
• Special symbols for joint Turkish/rebel control and joint SDF/government control in the border region
• Extent of "security corridor" sponsored by Turkey and Russia in the rebel-held northwest
• Outline showing approximate location of the one publicly-known US "deconfliction zone"
• Special symbols indicating towns dominated by rebels of the former Al Qaeda Nusra Front (now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS) and by the Kurdish YPG militia (part of the SDF anti-"Islamic State" coalition)
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events
• Locations of recent control changes and other important events, including Doubayat gas field, Al Karak, Morek, and more
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since July 30, 2020, compiled by our Syria-Iraq expert, with links to sources.

SUBSCRIBERS CLICK HERE TO PROCEED TO ARTICLE AND MAP

Not signed up yet? Click here to learn more about our professional subscription service!

Can I purchase just this map?
This map and report are not available for automated purchase to non-subscribers. If you need access or republication rights for only this map report, contact service@polgeonow.com for options.

Guest Feature: Map of Control in Ethiopia's Tigray Conflict (November 18, 2020)

Update: PolGeoNow now has an in-house map showing territorial control in northern Ethiopia. To find the latest version, view all Ethiopia reports.

Today we're featuring a map created by a friend of PolGeoNow, Daniel from Passport Party, roughly illustrating territorial control in the new conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray state. For further updates to this map, follow Passport Party on Twitter.

Rough map of territorial control in Ethiopia's 2020 Tigray conflict, by Daniel of Passport Party (used with permission).

 

Ethiopia Conflict: Tigray Control Map by Passport Party

On November 4, 2020, a new armed conflict broke out between Ethiopia's central government and the government of Tigray, a regional state within Ethiopia. Details since then have been difficult to track down because of a government-imposed communications blackout in the region, and at PolGeoNow we've been too busy so far to create our own control map. 

Fortunately, our friend Daniel from Passport Party has managed to create a rough map his own, drawing from a carefully-curated network of sources with local ties, along with what scant media reports are available. Though Daniel warns that a map like this can't be completely reliable under the circumstances, this is our pick for best of the maps that we've seen.

Daniel has graciously offered us permission to feature the latest version of his map here, and for further map updates on the rapidly-changing situation, you can check the Passport Party Twitter feed. Keep reading for a brief outline of the situation, and for more details on the sources used in creating this map.

Nagorno-Karabakh Control Map & Timeline: Peace Deal Reached - November 10, 2020 (Subscription)

SUBSCRIBERS CLICK HERE TO PROCEED TO ARTICLE AND MAP

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all Nagorno-Karabakh articles on PolGeoNow.

Map by Evan Centanni, Djordje Djukic, Bourrichon, and Lesqual

Subscribe Now! Subscribe for full access to all conflict map reports!

The six-week war between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed, self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh has come screeching to a halt with a new Russia-brokered peace agreement. Azerbaijan has captured ever-bigger sections of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, and will hold onto them under the terms of the new deal.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional map of control in the Armenia-Azerbaijan war, which includes a timeline of territorial changes and key events since our previous Nagorno-Karabakh map report of October 25, with sources cited.

This map and report are premium content, available to paid subscribers of the PolGeoNow Conflict Mapping Service.

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Nagorno-Karabakh map!

Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, including the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. Areas of mixed or unclear control indicated separately. Colorblind accessible. 
  
• Claimed borders of the Republic of Artsakh, as well as the former extent of the Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO).
  
• Indication of town-by-town control along the frontlines.
• Locations of recent fighting and other important events, including Shusha, Qubadli, Lachin, and more.
  
• Detailed timeline of territorial control changes and key military/political developments since October 25, 2020, with sources cited. 

SUBSCRIBERS CLICK HERE TO PROCEED TO ARTICLE AND MAP

Not signed up yet? Click here to learn more about our professional subscription service!

3 Election Day Referendums that Could Change US Geography (Updated with Results)

Update: All three referendums passed, and as of January 2021 the results of two have gone into effect. Scroll down to the bottom of each section for details of what happened.

The US has 50 states...for now. (Map from Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA)

 

US Voters to Decide in Geography-related Referendums

This Tuesday - November 3, 2020 - is election day in the United States. And while presidential rivals Donald Trump and Joe Biden have dominated the news, Americans will also be voting (or have already voted) in thousands of other elections for national, state, and local politicians, plus referendums on state and local issues.

The US has no process for nationwide referendums, but statewide referendums - often known as "ballot measures", "propositions", or just "questions" - are common. They also exist at many lower levels of government, and in territories that aren't part of any state, like the national capital district and overseas dependencies. This Tuesday, there will be 120 statewide referendums, all held within 32 of the country's 50 states, plus 3 referendums at the top level of government for other territories.

While most of these votes are on issues like taxation, election rules, and drug laws, three are of special interest to geography fans: