Thanks for the suggestions, but I am not there yet (I'm a real novice). In the code provided by Patrick (see below), I changed the shape input (from sids to world) which I downloaded here: http://thematicmapping.org/downloads/world_borders.php. As a result I also need to change the "CNTY_ID" and "id" in the code, but I have no idea what to put there. Could you please help me? Thanks!
Mathijs library(maptools) library(ggplot2) gpclibPermit() myshp<- readShapeSpatial(system.file("shapes/sids.shp", package="maptools")) ## see licence, not GPL myshp.points<- fortify.SpatialPolygonsDataFrame(myshp, region="CNTY_ID") shpm<- merge(myshp.points, myshp, by.x="id", by.y="CNTY_ID") head(shpm) p <- ggplot(shpm, aes(long, lat, group=group, fill=NWBIR74)) p <- p + geom_polygon() + geom_path(color="white") + coord_equal() ## Add some locations cities <- read.table(textConnection(" long lat city val -78.644722 35.818889 Raleigh 323 -80.843333 35.226944 Charlotte 510 -82.555833 35.58 Asheville 400"), header = TRUE) p <- p + geom_point(aes( fill=NULL, group = NULL, size=val), data = cities, color= 'black') p -- View this message in context: http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/Projecting-data-on-a-world-map-using-long-lat-tp3081298p3082305.html Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.