countryatlas

Country data onto honest maps: joined on ISO codes, never on country names.

🔑 Messy names in, one key out, in any of a dozen languages:

library(countryatlas)
d <- data.frame(country = c("Cote d'Ivoire", "Korea, Rep.", "Deutschland", "U.K."))
standardize_country(d, country, add = "iso3c")
#> # A tibble: 4 × 2
#>   country       iso3c
#>   <chr>         <chr>
#> 1 Cote d'Ivoire CIV  
#> 2 Korea, Rep.   KOR  
#> 3 Deutschland   DEU  
#> 4 U.K.          GBR

🗺️ An equal-area map that states its coverage and its source:

world_map(attach_geometry(world_snapshot$countries), gdp_per_capita)

🕰️ Membership and classification as they were, not as they are:

in_group(c("GBR", "GBR"), "EU", origin = "iso3c", as_of = c(2016, 2021))
#> [1]  TRUE FALSE
classify_countries(data.frame(iso3c = "VNM", year = c(2026, 2027)), "income")
#>   iso3c year              income
#> 1   VNM 2026 Lower middle income
#> 2   VNM 2027 Upper middle income

🚀 Setup

1. install.packages("countryatlas")
2. library(countryatlas): the bundled world_snapshot and the maps work offline.
3. Optional, for the sf backend and every projection: install.packages(c("sf", "rnaturalearth", "rnaturalearthdata"))
4. Live data: world_data(2020) from the World Bank, or any provider in country_sources() through fetch_indicator().

⚠️ Gotchas

What bites	What to do
Fetching needs the network	world_snapshot is offline; the fetchers call the providers.
World Bank releases revise old values	Pin one: world_data(2020, vintage = "2024-07").
The cache lives in tools::R_user_dir("countryatlas", "cache")	clear_country_cache() empties it.
TLS errors behind a proxy	Point CURL_CA_BUNDLE at your CA bundle; never turn verification off.
sf will not load	Maps still draw: the polygon backend and its Equal Earth are built in.

📚 Learn more

The Gallery shows every map verb; the articles cover panels, tracing data to its source and honest maps.