Draw a radius on a map
Type a radius and tap the centre, or drag a circle by eye.
- Free
- No account
- km, miles, nautical miles
- Along the curve of the Earth
Layers
Eraser
What it does
Erase from
Start with…
Type a radius and tap the centre, or drag a circle by eye. Measure distances between places and read the area of any shape, all along the true curve of the Earth.
What you can make
How far from Delhi?Circles of 250, 500 and 1,000 km measured on the globe, with the cities inside them.
Europe in 1914The borders of 1914, with the first moves of the First World War drawn over them.
A rail trip across EuropeEight cities by train, with numbered markers and a dashed route.
The euro area in 2026Countries coloured in with two legend colours: 21 use the euro, 6 EU members keep their own currency.
What you can do
Every drawing tool
Markers, text, lines, arrows, curved arrows, areas, boxes, circles, a freehand pen and a measuring tool.
Any year, 3000 BC to today
Move the timeline and the borders change with it. Give a drawing a start and end year and it appears only then.
Colour in countries
Tap countries, states, provinces or empires to colour them, with a legend of colours and patterns you can rename.
Real data underneath
Cities, rivers, voyages, World Heritage Sites, tectonic plates and more, ready to copy into your drawing.
True distances and areas
Circles of an exact radius, distances and areas, measured along the curve of the Earth.
Share and export
A link to share, PNG for slides, PDF for print, and GeoJSON, KML or GPX for other mapping tools.
How it works
Set the radius
With the Circle tool, type the radius in kilometres, miles or nautical miles in the panel, then tap the map where the centre goes. Leave it empty to drag a circle by eye.
Compare distances
Draw several circles from the same centre in different colours: 5, 10 and 50 km, say. Snapping puts each centre on the same point.
Measure a route
The Measure tool shows the length as you tap, along great circles, the shortest way on the globe.
Read areas
Select any area, box or circle to see its area and perimeter.
Data you can cite
- Natural EarthPublic domainCountries, coastlines and the simple base map
- Cliopatria (Seshat)CC BY 4.0Borders of 1,600+ states and empires, 3000 BC to today
- OpenStreetMapODbLStreets and places on the detailed base maps
- geoBoundariesOpen licences, per countryDistrict lines inside countries
Every exported picture prints the credits of the data on it. All sources: data sources.
Your maps stay yours
- Your map is saved in this browser as you draw. No account, no sign-in.
- Files you open (GeoJSON, KML, GPX, CSV) are read in your browser and never uploaded.
- A short link stores a copy of the map only when you make one, so the link works for anyone you send it to.
- What you draw is yours to use in lessons, articles, books and slides; keep the data credits on it.
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Questions
Is the circle a true radius on the ground?
Yes. Circles are drawn on the globe: every point of the outline is the radius away from the centre, so a big circle looks stretched towards the poles on the flat map, as it should. Switch to the 3D globe to see it round.
Is this a straight-line distance or a driving distance?
Straight-line ("as the crow flies") along the Earth's surface. Travel by road is longer.
Is YearMaps Draw free?
Yes. Drawing, sharing links and exporting PNG, PDF, GeoJSON, KML and GPX files are all free, with no account. Exported pictures carry a small @yearmaps.com mark and the credits of the data on the map.
Do I need an account to save my map?
No. Your map is saved in your browser as you draw. To keep it elsewhere, share its link, or save a YearMaps file and open it again later from the File menu.
Can I use the maps I make?
Yes. The map belongs to you, in school work, articles, presentations and books. Keep the data credits printed on the picture: the borders come from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0) and the base map from Natural Earth (public domain).
Can I import my own data?
Yes. Open or drop GeoJSON, KML, KMZ (Google Earth) and GPX (GPS) files onto the map. They are read in your browser and never uploaded.
More ways to use it
- Draw on a mapMark places, draw routes and areas, measure distances, and sketch history over the borders of any year from 3000 BC to today.
- Make a historical mapChoose a year, see the empires and states of that moment, and draw your own history over them: campaigns, trade routes, battles, borders and notes.
- Map maker for teachersMake the map for today's lesson in minutes: a blank or historical base, your labels and arrows, then a PDF for the worksheet or a link for the class.
- Make your own mapA free map maker in the browser.
- Draw a route on a mapTap stop after stop to draw a route, read its length as you go, then style it as a dashed trail, an arrow or a curve and add the stops as numbered markers.
- Measure distance on a mapTap two places, or a whole path of them, and read the distance along the curve of the Earth in kilometres, miles or nautical miles.
Every map page on YearMaps has a Draw on this map button in its Share panel, which opens the same view here. See what's new in YearMaps Draw.