Mapping and Measuring Country Shapes: The cshapes Package

Nils B. Weidmann and Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, 2010
The R Journal 2(1)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to introduce the cshapes R package, which includes our CShapes dataset of contemporary and historical maps and country boundaries, as well as computational tools for computing geographical measures from these maps. We provide an overview of the need for considering spatial dependence in comparative research, how this requires appropriate historical maps, and detail how our CShapes dataset and the associated R package cshapes can contribute to these ends.