Area chart
Type of chart
An area chart or area graph displays graphically quantitative data. It is based on the line chart. The area between axis and line are commonly emphasized with colors, textures and hatchings. Commonly one compares two or more quantities with an area chart.
01History
William Playfair is usually credited with inventing the area charts as well as the line, bar, and pie charts. His book The Commercial and Political Atlas, published in 1786, contained a number of time-series graphs, including Interest of the National Debt from the Revolution and Chart of all the Imports and Exports to and from England from the Year 1700 to 1782 that are often described as the first area charts in history.
02Common uses
Area charts are used to represent cumulated totals using numbers or percentages (stacked area charts in this case) over time. Use the area chart for showing trends over time among related attributes. The area chart is like the plot chart except that the area below the plotted line is filled in with color to indicate volume.
When multiple attributes are included, the first attribute is plotted as a line with color fill followed by the second attribute, and so on.
03Variations
Area charts which use vertical and horizontal lines to connect the data points in a series forming a step-like progression are called step-area charts.
Area charts in which data points are connected by smooth curves instead of straight lines are called spline-area charts.
Stacked area charts in which the area is displaced around the central axis are called streamgraphs.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Area chart”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- De wanderung.svg by StefanPohl, Hi, future humans! (talk · contribs), CC0
- US and USSR nuclear stockpiles.svg by Created by Fastfission first by mapping the lines using OpenOffice.org's Calc program, then exporting a graph to SVG, and the performing substantial aesthetic modifications in Inkscape., Public domain
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