Karttoineen

Karttoineen is a fictional archipelago used in cartography and geographic information systems (GIS) education to illustrate map projection distortions and spatial analysis concepts. Created for teaching purposes, it appears in textbooks, classroom exercises, and software simulators as a controlled, repeatable test case.

Geography and environment: The archipelago comprises nine principal islands totaling about 3,200 square kilometers. The terrain ranges from low coastal plains to hills up to 900 meters, with a central plateau in some editions. It experiences a temperate maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters, frequent precipitation, and a network of fjords and channels that connect the islands.

History and governance: Karttoineen originates as a pedagogical project in the late 1990s by a consortium of geographic educators. It is a non-sovereign, fictional entity used solely for instructional purposes; any political structures described in materials are simulated for GIS exercises, not real governance.

Language and culture: In materials, the Karttoineen language is a constructed language used to teach data labeling and to create realistic map legends. It features a subject–verb–object syntax and a Latin-based alphabet. Cultural notes are crafted as part of scenario-based tasks.

Economy and infrastructure: The fictional economy centers on research, tourism, and digital mapping services. Infrastructure examples include ports, a small airport, and a network of roads and ferry routes used to demonstrate raster-vector transitions and route analysis in GIS.

Educational significance: Karttoineen is widely used to demonstrate projection distortion, scale, and spatial relationships across different map projections, helping students understand the strengths and limitations of each method.