Map of the Day: A Year of Upheaval in North Africa and the Sahel

This is among the most amazing info-maps I have ever come across. Credit goes to Le Monde Diplomatique, which posted it to Relief Web for everyone to see and download.

This map tells a few stories, and I encourage readers to spend some time with it.  What stands out to me is how one region in Mali has become a confluence of several flows: smuggled goods, traditional population migration patterns, proximity to American lead efforts to counter Al Qaeda, and arms and militias pouring in from Libya after the toppling of Gaddafi.

What stands out to you?

Map of the Day