Create shape map visualizations in Power BI Desktop (preview)

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop  Power BI service

Note

The Azure Maps visual is now generally available, except for in sovereign clouds. When you open a report with an existing map visual, if Azure Maps is enabled for your organization, you see a message encouraging you to upgrade your maps and filled maps to Azure Maps. In a future release, Power BI plans to deprecate older map visuals and migrate existing reports to Azure Maps. You can convert maps and filled maps to Azure Maps visuals now. This excludes sovereign clouds.

Create a Shape map visual to compare regions on a map using color. Unlike the Map visual, Shape map doesn't show precise geographical locations of data points on a map. Instead, its main purpose is to compare regions on a map by coloring them differently.

You can only add the Shape map visual to a report in Power BI Desktop. The visual appears in the report when you publish it to the web or use the Power BI mobile app.

Since it's in preview, you must enable it before you can use it. To enable Shape map, select File > Options and Settings > Options > Preview Features, and then select the Shape map visual checkbox. You need to restart Power BI Desktop after you make the selection.

Create a shape map

You can test the Shape map control with the maps that ship with this preview release, or you can use your own custom map as long as it meets the requirements outlined in the following section called Use custom maps. Shape map visuals are based on maps that you can find on the Internet, create yourself, or convert to the TopoJSON format. Examples of custom maps are: geographical, seating arrangements, floor plans, and others.

Enable the shape map visual (preview)

1. In Power BI Desktop, select File > Options and settings > Options.
2. Under Global > Preview features, select Shape map visual.
3. Select OK, and then restart Power BI Desktop for the change to take effect.

Add a shape map visual

1. Open or create a report in Power BI Desktop.
2. In the Visualizations pane, select the Shape map icon to add an empty visual to the canvas.
3. (Optional) Resize the visual so it's large enough to view region shading clearly.

Power BI Desktop adds an empty Shape map visual to the report canvas.

Build the shape map

Note

In the Region keys section, there are tables of map region keys you can use to follow these steps.

1. Select the empty Shape map visual.

2. In the Fields pane, drag a geographic field to the Location well (for example, State, Region, or District).

3. Drag a numeric measure (for example, Sales, Population) to the Color saturation well.

4. With the visual still selected, open the Format pane (paint roller icon) and expand Map settings.

5. Choose a Map type (for example, Italy, Mexico, USA) from the dropdown.

   

6. In the Format pane, expand Map settings, and change the Map type. In this example, select Italy.

   

7. To display the map keys of the currently selected map, select View map type key. In this example, use a map of Mexico and the Map keys displays the values being used to build the map.

   

8. Choose which way to display a three-dimensional object (the earth) as a two-dimensional map using the Projection dropdown.

   • Equirectangular: Cylindrical projection that converts the globe into a grid with each rectangular cell having the same size, shape, and area.
   • Mercator: Cylindrical projection with the equator depicted as the line of tangency. Polar areas are more distorted than Equirectangular projections.
   • Orthographic: A projection from an infinite point, as if from deep space. It gives the illusion of a three-dimensional globe.

   For more detailed information, see Esri map projections reference.

9. (Optional) Add a categorical field to Legend to classify the map regions by category.

10. (Optional) In Format pane > Data colors, adjust the palette and other settings such as Default color and Zoom.

Note

If you don’t see Map settings, make sure the Shape map visual is selected. If Map type shows only Blank, confirm the preview feature is enabled and restart Power BI Desktop.

Use custom maps

You can test the built-in map types or use your own custom map as long as it meets the requirements outlined in Load a custom TopoJSON map. Shape map visuals are based on maps you can find, create, or convert to the TopoJSON format (for example: geographical regions, seating layouts, floor plans).

Load a custom TopoJSON map

1. Add or select a Shape map visual.
2. Open the Format pane and expand Map settings.
3. In Map type, select Custom map.
4. Select Add a map type.
5. Browse to and select your .topojson file, and then select Open.
6. (Optional) Select View map type key to verify that the region names or IDs match your Location field values.

Sample custom map

The Offices of the United States Attorneys release an annual fiscal report on their litigation and caseload data. We convert some of their district data into .json files and add them to this sample PBIX.

Custom shape map demo .PBIX file

If you want to experiment with custom maps, download this PBIX file and follow along.

1. From Power BI Desktop, select File > Open report.

2. Since states can be divided into multiple districts, you need to use a custom shape map for districts. By importing the TopoJSON map of the U.S. judicial districts into Power BI Desktop, you can visualize the annual fiscal district attorney data. The following image uses a custom map named 2000_districts_extra_simplified_CONUS.json file.

   

   

You can do interesting things with the individual state maps and show more detail based on the districts they contain.

Get map data

To quickly get data into a model to test Shape map, copy one of the tables at the end of this article, and then select Enter data from the Home ribbon.

In this example, select the data for Mexico and paste it into Desktop by using Enter data. The top row is automatically identified as a header.

Enter a new column by typing a new column name in the blank column to the right. Add values in each cell just like you can do in Excel. When finished, select Load. The table is added to the data model for Power BI Desktop.

Note

When working with countries/regions, use the three-letter abbreviation to ensure that geocoding works properly in map visualizations. Don't use two-letter abbreviations, as some countries/regions might not be properly recognized.

If you only have two-letter abbreviations, check out this external blog post for steps on how to associate your two-letter country/region abbreviations with three-letter country/region abbreviations.

Preview behavior and requirements

Consider the following requirements and limitations for this Preview release of Shape map:

• If the Shape map visual is still marked preview in your build, you must enable it (see Enable the Shape map visual).
• Currently, the Color saturation bucket must be set for the Legend classification to work properly.
• The Shape map visual plots up to a maximum of 1,500 data points.

Region keys

Use the following Region keys in this preview release to test Shape map.

Australia: States

ID	Abbreviation	ISO	Name	Postal
au-wa	WA	AU-WA	Western Australia	WA
au-vic	Vic	AU-VIC	Victoria	VIC
au-tas	Tas	AU-TAS	Tasmania	TAS
au-sa	SA	AU-SA	South Australia	SA
au-qld	Qld	AU-QLD	Queensland	QLD
au-nt	NT	AU-NT	Northern Territory	NT
au-nsw	NSW	AU-NSW	New South Wales	NSW
au-act	ACT	AU-ACT	Australian Capital Territory	ACT

Austria: States

ID	ISO	Name	English name	Postal
at-wi	AT-9	Wien	Vienna	WI
at-vo	AT-8	Vorarlberg	Vorarlberg	VO
at-tr	AT-7	Tirol	Tyrol	TR
at-st	AT-6	Steiermark	Styria	ST
at-sz	AT-5	Salzburg	Salzburg	SZ
at-oo	AT-4	Oberösterreich	Upper Austria	OO
at-no	AT-3	Niederösterreich	Lower Austria	NO
at-ka	AT-2	Kärnten	Carinthia	KA
at-bu	AT-1	Burgenland	Burgenland	BU

Brazil: States

ID
Tocantins
Pernambuco
Goiás
Sergipe
São Paulo
Santa Catarina
Roraima
Rondônia
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio de Janeiro
Piauí
Paraná
Paraíba
Pará
Minas Gerais
Mato Grosso
Maranhão
Mato Grosso do Sul
Distrito Federal
Ceará
Espírito Santo
Bahia
Amazonas
Amapá
Alagoas
Acre
Litigated Zone 1
Litigated Zone 2
Litigated Zone 3
Litigated Zone 4

Canada: Provinces

ID	ISO	Name	Postal
ca-nu	CA-NU	Nunavut	NU
ca-nt	CA-NT	Northwest Territories	NT
ca-yt	CA-YT	Yukon	YT
ca-sk	CA-SK	Saskatchewan	SK
ca-qc	CA-QC	Quebec	QC
ca-pe	CA-PE	Prince Edward Island	PE
ca-on	CA-ON	Ontario	ON
ca-ns	CA-NS	Nova Scotia	NS
ca-nl	CA-NL	Newfoundland and Labrador	NL
ca-nb	CA-NB	New Brunswick	NB
ca-mb	CA-MB	Manitoba	MB
ca-bc	CA-BC	British Columbia	BC
ca-ab	CA-AB	Alberta	AB

France: Regions

ID	Name	English name
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
Bretagne	Bretagne
Centre-Val de Loire	Centre-Val de Loire	Centre-Val de Loire
Corse	Corse	Corsica
Grand Est
Guadeloupe
Hauts-de-France
Ile-de-France	Île-de-France	Ile-de-France
La Reunion
Mayotte
Normandie	Normandie
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Occitanie
Pays de la Loire	Pays de la Loire	Pays de la Loire
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur

Germany: States

ID	ISO	Name	English name	Postal
de-be	DE-BE	Berlin	Berlin	BE
de-th	DE-TH	Thüringen	Thuringia	TH
de-st	DE-ST	Sachsen-Anhalt	Saxony-Anhalt	ST
de-sn	DE-SN	Sachsen	Saxony	SN
de-mv	DE-MV	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	MV
de-bb	DE-BB	Brandenburg	Brandenburg	BB
de-sh	DE-SH	Schleswig-Holstein	Schleswig-Holstein	SH
de-sl	DE-SL	Saarland	Saarland	SL
de-rp	DE-RP	Rheinland-Pfalz	Rhineland-Palatinate	RP
de-nw	DE-NW	Nordrhein-Westfalen	North Rhine-Westphalia	NW
de-ni	DE-NI	Niedersachsen	Lower Saxony	NI
de-he	DE-HE	Hessen	Hesse	HE
de-hh	DE-HH	Hamburg	Hamburg	HH
de-hb	DE-HB	Bremen	Bremen	HB
de-by	DE-BY	Bayern	Bavaria	BY
de-bw	DE-BW	Baden-Württemberg	Baden-Wurttemberg	BW

Ireland: Counties

ID
Wicklow
Wexford
Westmeath
Waterford
Sligo
Tipperary
Roscommon
Offaly
Monaghan
Meath
Mayo
Louth
Longford
Limerick
Leitrim
Laoighis
Kilkenny
Kildare
Kerry
Galway
Dublin
Donegal
Cork
Clare
Cavan
Carlow

Italy: Regions

ID	ISO	Name	English name	Postal
it-vn	IT-34	Veneto	Veneto	VN
it-vd	IT-23	Valle d'Aosta	Aosta Valley	VD
it-um	IT-55	Umbria	Umbria	UM
it-tt	IT-32	Trentino-Alto Adige	Trentino-South Tyrol	TT
it-tc	IT-52	Toscana	Tuscany	TC
it-sc	IT-82	Sicilia	Sicily	SC
it-sd	IT-88	Sardegna	Sardinia	SD
it-pm	IT-21	Piemonte	Piedmont	PM
it-ml	IT-67	Molise	Molise	ML
it-mh	IT-57	Marche	Marche	MH
it-lm	IT-25	Lombardia	Lombardy	LM
it-lg	IT-42	Liguria	Liguria	LG
it-lz	IT-62	Lazio	Lazio	LZ
it-fv	IT-36	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	FV
it-er	IT-45	Emilia-Romagna	Emilia-Romagna	ER
it-cm	IT-72	Campania	Campania	CM
it-lb	IT-78	Calabria	Calabria	LB
it-bc	IT-77	Basilicata	Basilicata	BC
it-pu	IT-75	Apulia	Puglia	PU
it-ab	IT-65	Abruzzo	Abruzzo	AB

Mexico: States

ID	Abbreviation	ISO	Name	English name	Postal
mx-zac	Zac.	MX-ZAC	Zacatecas	Zacatecas	ZA
mx-yuc	Yuc.	MX-YUC	Yucatán	Yucatan	YU
mx-ver	Ver.	MX-VER	Veracruz	Veracruz	VE
mx-tla	Tlax.	MX-TLA	Tlaxcala	Tlaxcala	TL
mx-tam	Tamps.	MX-TAM	Tamaulipas	Tamaulipas	TM
mx-tab	Tab.	MX-TAB	Tabasco	Tabasco	TB
mx-son	Son.	MX-SON	Sonora	Sonora	SO
mx-sin	Sin.	MX-SIN	Sinaloa	Sinaloa	SI
mx-slp	S.L.P.	MX-SLP	San Luis Potosí	San Luis Potosi	SL
mx-roo	Q.R.	MX-ROO	Quintana Roo	Quintana Roo	QR
mx-que	Qro.	MX-QUE	Querétaro	Queretaro	QE
mx-pue	Pue.	MX-PUE	Puebla	Puebla	PU
mx-oax	Oax.	MX-OAX	Oaxaca	Oaxaca	OA
mx-nle	N.L.	MX-NLE	Nuevo León	Nuevo Leon	NL
mx-nay	Nay.	MX-NAY	Nayarit	Nayarit	NA
mx-mor	Mor.	MX-MOR	Morelos	Morelos	MR
mx-mic	Mich.	MX-MIC	Michoacán	Michoacan	MC
mx-mex	Méx.	MX-MEX	Estado de México	Mexico State	MX
mx-jal	Jal.	MX-JAL	Jalisco	Jalisco	JA
mx-hid	Hgo.	MX-HID	Hidalgo	Hidalgo	HI
mx-gro	Gro.	MX-GRO	Guerrero	Guerrero	GR
mx-gua	Gto.	MX-GUA	Guanajuato	Guanajuato	GT
mx-dur	Dgo.	MX-DUR	Durango	Durango	DU
mx-dif	CDMX.	MX-DIF	Ciudad de México	Mexico City	DF
mx-col	Col.	MX-COL	Colima	Colima	CL
mx-coa	Coah.	MX-COA	Coahuila	Coahuila	CA
mx-chh	Chih.	MX-CHH	Chihuahua	Chihuahua	CH
mx-chp	Chis.	MX-CHP	Chiapas	Chiapas	CP
mx-cam	Camp.	MX-CAM	Campeche	Campeche	CM
mx-bcs	B.C.S.	MX-BCS	Baja California Sur	Baja California Sur	BS
mx-bcn	B.C.	MX-BCN	Baja California	Baja California	BN
mx-agu	Ags.	MX-AGU	Aguascalientes	Aguascalientes	AG

Netherlands: Provinces

ID	ISO	Name	English name
nl-zh	NL-ZH	Zuid-Holland	South Holland
nl-ze	NL-ZE	Zeeland	Zeeland
nl-ut	NL-UT	Utrecht	Utrecht
nl-ov	NL-OV	Overijssel	Overijssel
nl-nh	NL-NH	Noord-Holland	North Holland
nl-nb	NL-NB	Noord-Brabant	North Brabant
nl-li	NL-LI	Limburg	Limburg
nl-gr	NL-GR	Groningen	Groningen
nl-ge	NL-GE	Gelderland	Gelderland
nl-fr	NL-FR	Fryslân	Friesland
nl-fl	NL-FL	Flevoland	Flevoland
nl-dr	NL-DR	Drenthe	Drenthe

UK: Countries/Regions

ID	ISO	Name
gb-wls	GB-WLS	Wales
gb-sct	GB-SCT	Scotland
gb-nir	GB-NIR	Northern Ireland
gb-eng	GB-ENG	England

USA: States

ID	Name	Postal
us-mi	Michigan	MI
us-ak	Alaska	AK
us-hi	Hawaii	HI
us-fl	Florida	FL
us-la	Louisiana	LA
us-ar	Arkansas	AR
us-sc	South Carolina	SC
us-ga	Georgia	GA
us-ms	Mississippi	MS
us-al	Alabama	AL
us-nm	New Mexico	NM
us-tx	Texas	TX
us-tn	Tennessee	TN
us-nc	North Carolina	NC
us-ok	Oklahoma	OK
us-az	Arizona	AZ
us-mo	Missouri	MO
us-va	Virginia	VA
us-ks	Kansas	KS
us-ky	Kentucky	KY
us-co	Colorado	CO
us-md	Maryland	MD
us-wv	West Virginia	WV
us-de	Delaware	DE
us-dc	District of Columbia	DC
us-il	Illinois	IL
us-oh	Ohio	OH
us-ca	California	CA
us-ut	Utah	UT
us-nv	Nevada	NV
us-in	Indiana	IN
us-nj	New Jersey	NJ
us-ri	Rhode Island	RI
us-ct	Connecticut	CT
us-pa	Pennsylvania	PA
us-ny	New York	NY
us-ne	Nebraska	NE
us-ma	Massachusetts	MA
us-ia	Iowa	IA
us-nh	New Hampshire	NH
us-or	Oregon	OR
us-mn	Minnesota	MN
us-vt	Vermont	VT
us-id	Idaho	ID
us-wi	Wisconsin	WI
us-wy	Wyoming	WY
us-sd	South Dakota	SD
us-nd	North Dakota	ND
us-me	Maine	ME
us-mt	Montana	MT
us-wa	Washington	WA

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