The temporal and spatial overview of global shipping routes

In this paper, the spatial distribution of shipping routes is given after analyzing the global shipping routes with the methods of GIS analysis. The historical development and change of the global shipping routes are revealed with the combination of historical data. The analysis result shows that: The shipping routes among North America, Europe, and Asia constitute the main body of the global shipping routes. There are a number of key shipping routes in the global shipping routes, whose frequency of navigation is significantly higher than other routes. By comparing shipping routes of the 19th century with the ones in present day, we can see the key areas evolution of the global maritime transport from “Europe-America-Africa” to “Europe-North America-Asia”. The three most concentrated areas of ports in the world are Europe, North America, and East Asia. Asian ports, especially China´s ports, have shown a very fast growth rate in the past forty years.