Guess The Map

ignore the markers i think, all about the heat map

Number of lights on at a certain point of the day.

no :)

it looks very city/ population related - could be so many things

guessing McDonald's restaurants again?

availability of bratwurst

Places Where Germans Go On Holiday

places introverts should avoid

Number of Volkswagen cars

Neanderthal DNA prevalence

People searching what "LC WAIKIKI" was last week.

Given the prominence of Germany and Central Europe I'm guessing something to do with alcohol, maybe beer consumption

Iceland is too purple for this to be human/population related

It's got to be in some way population related as most major conurbations are marked yellow

Is it coverage of 5G or something similar?

I'm trying to understand why the three parallel lines north east of Moscow - and the lines in Egypt

power lines?

Density of pubs/bars

Qatar and Dubai well known for their drinking culture.

Reading through this and finding out what the first map represented does just leave me wondering how arbitrary the shops' distribution were. If there is anything linking why they are set up where they are.
I guess the semi randomness was why the map was picked but presume there must be some order as to how a business is set up. History of trade or something. What directs aesthetic taste across such a broad area if the goods are at least semi uniform across the shops. Like business serving a recognised demand etc. &specific business instead of any alternative.

none correct so far

100% not-population related because India/China/Indonesia are pretty mid in the heatmap and that's where 40% of the planet's population lives.

Iceland feels key to this.

Florida, France, Spain, Turkey (and the Black Sea in general) all have a notable discrepancy between the coast and inland

Kinshasa (Congo) is 16 million people and hardly visible on that map, Reykjavik 122k

Iceland keeps me going back to power (solar/hydro/wind/geothermal) but if none of the above guesses were correct then maybe not, after all :-/

the Kuril islands (Japan <-> Kamchatka archipelago) are suspiciously visible too (only 20-odd thousand inhabitants, there can't be power lines or railways between them) - but what can it be then? mmmmmmmm

(archipelago->peninsula sorry)

It could be that people don't live there. Vacation destinations would tie in with the coastal differences in France, Florida, Turkey and the others

life expectancy?
or its direct opposite. levels of violence?

herring consumption

nope

it's something really basic

but i can give a better clue if you want one

concentration of german bank branches

no

the thing that sticks out to me is yellow in the southwestern us, some of those places are podunkville

Mercedes Benz ownership

nah

sewage piping

The pins got me thinking are they the most visited places in the world by tourists?

I think thats right, and would explain why the coastal strips are yellow in some places, much more so than adjacent interiors

the thing that sticks out to me is yellow in the southwestern us, some of those places are podunkville

Canyons?

getting close Dan

Well, I mean you almost nailed it but the specific is different

I found it by googling but I won't spoil

cool you can help with the replies, when i aint' here but dan almost got it so might not be long before a result.

Something to do with transport? Highest concentration of cars, busiest roads, something like that?

Airbnb density?

Immigrant proportion of population?